How collaboration can end the pandemic (and prevent the next one)
Three leading scientists say that by working together across the world, researchers can counter COVID-19 and prevent future pandemics.
The Italian physicist Pablo Giordano has warned that “other diseases are likely to put coronavirus in the shade”. Three leading scientists say that by working together across the world, researchers can counter COVID-19 and prevent these future pandemics.
Australian scientists have played a profound role in helping humanity understanding the dangers of viruses like COVID-19. Our researchers are making vital contributions to collaborative research with their peers from around the globe, including in China, the USA and the UK.
The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering’s NSW Division recently explored these efforts in an urgent webinar with three leading Australian scientists:
- Professor Stephen Simpson AC FAA, Academic Director of the Charles Perkins Centre
- Professor Edward Holmes FAA, Professor at the University of Sydney
- Professor Benjamin Eggleton FTSE FAA, Director of The University of Sydney Nano Institute.
They discussed their personal experiences working to tackle this historic threat and Australia’s contributions to COVID-19 containment and vaccine development, as well as our understanding of the long-term impacts of the pandemic.
Professor Simpson argued that the crisis gives the lie to the dichotomy between “applied” and “research” disciplines.
“COVID has shown us that we need the capacity to convene experts rapidly – nationally and internationally – to come together to tackle complex problems.
“We were able to do that because we had a diverse workforce that includes disciplinary experts that spans a range of different disciplinary areas, and who are adept at working in multidisciplinary teams – not just in STEM disciplines, but in the humanities and social sciences.”
“Everything will fail unless we globally act together”, said Professor Eddie Holmes, a leading virologist who specialises in animal to human disease transmission.
His own work in Wuhan contributed to his deep understanding of the evolution of the disease. “We saw these bat coronaviruses, saw they were jumping species, and knew it could be a problem. The idea that this was going to happen was out there.”
While these Cassandra-like warnings went tragically unheeded, the fact that scientists already had this knowledge offers hope for our capacity to prevent the next pandemic.
The extraordinary potential of world-wide collaboration is another promising sign. Professor Holmes said that after scientists in Chinese sequenced the genome of the coronavirus, the global response was rapid.
“The great thing was that within a week of this sequence being made available to everyone in the world, scientists in Germany had developed a PCR test the track the infection in people, and that’s still the test we’re using today. That’s a huge case of how important it is to share data and work globally.”
As well as investing in research and boosting global collaboration, the expert panel said the world can prevent future pandemics by:
- rethinking our relationship with the natural world (the destruction of which is a major cause of novel disease)
- investing in the researching, creating and stockpiling universal vaccines
- moving from reactive healthcare systems focused on ameliorating sickness to proactive systems that seek to prevent it.
The Academy explored this final point in its recent major report, A New Prescription: preparing for a healthcare transformation
