Giving great ideas a chance: what's next for science in the time of COVID-19?
David Pye assesses the effects on research of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, and considers what our priorities should be over the coming years.
By Dr David Pye, Scientific Director of Kidscan, and Subject Head for Chemical Sciences at the University of Salford
As scientific director of Kidscan – a children’s cancer research charity operating out of the University of Salford – my role is to develop therapeutic treatments for cancer, and fundamental chemistry is absolutely key to this. But ultimately our aim is to bring these therapies into the clinical setting to treat patients – which can be a big challenge for many academics.
As an example, for many years I have been interested in the therapeutic use of polysaccharides, for their ability to target blood vessel growth in cancers but no-one knew if there was specificity in the interactions. We investigated the conformational dynamics of these molecules – the way they move and how that relates to their structure/function – as a way of explaining the specificity. This is something that you can only do using chemical techniques – such as NMR and computer simulation of molecules – rather than a more traditional biochemistry approach.
We want to develop these drugs commercially – to transition from lab to bedside – but in order to do that you need to involve investors. Venture capitalists are often less interested in the theoretical side of things – they want to see the applications – which is a big challenge when you are seeking funding for fundamental chemistry research. They want to know how and why the drugs work, and that’s why it’s so important to be able to demonstrate that using these chemical techniques.
The UK government has committed to spend 2.4% of GDP on research, but there is currently a lack of clarity around how this will be spent. The recent budget made no explicit commitment to how the UK’s access to Horizon 2020 would be paid for – many academics hope that funding will soon be available from this source, but we don’t know for sure, and we’re in a dangerous place at the moment. On top of that, Brexit means that there’s no guarantee we’ll get the same return out of European funding that we used to get, and collaborators may be reluctant to work with partners in the UK.
COVID-19 has also had a hugely damaging impact on my field of cancer research. We’ve already heard about some cancer patients not receiving the treatment they need due to the effects of the pandemic but there’s also an immediate impact on research due to lack of access to labs and limitations on teaching. We are already seeing a squeeze in funding for research projects, which is going to have long-term effects as well. Most of the funding for cancer research comes from charities. Many of the larger charities have been forced to cut funding but there’s also a big worry around the smaller ones – whose total contribution to research funding has been significant up until this point. Many smaller research charities are struggling just to maintain running costs, and we haven’t received any support from the government beyond the furlough scheme.
In the last year there has been an understandable intense focus on COVID-19, but it's so important that research continues to be funded across a range of areas. Antimicrobial resistance, for instance, was a hot topic and popular with policymakers a few years ago but appears to be dropping down the list of priorities now. Yet long-term more people will probably die of infectious diseases, related to a lack of working antibiotics, than will die of COVID-19, so it’s essential that research continues in this area.
Science is riding the crest of a wave of good will at the moment, because of its role in tackling COVID-19 and because of recent technology advancements, so it’s time to build on that and inspire the next generation of researchers.
We don’t know where the government’s focus will be in the coming years, but I’d like to see a big commitment made to Higher Education in STEM subjects. We’re already losing chemistry courses and programmes at institutions across the country, and we need help to make sure this doesn’t keep happening. Higher Education is so important if we want to develop a technology based economy but in order to convince students to study STEM subjects we need to make sure there are jobs for them once they graduate. In certain areas of the country there aren’t enough employment options for STEM graduates at the moment. We need to be thinking now about where the current generation of graduates are going to end up – whether that’s engineering or biotech or pure chemistry research – and make sure there is plenty of funding to support those areas.
COVID-19 has changed the research landscape, but it’s not all bad news. As a university lecturer I have been teaching about DNA vaccines and RNA vaccines for 20 years – it’s always been something just over the horizon, and now in the last 12 months it has become a reality.
It’s extraordinary to see how fast science can move when it’s given sufficient attention and resources. Much of this vaccine development has been going on for years in the background but it wasn’t made a priority. How many other brilliant ideas are already out there that could change the world and benefit humanity if given the chance?
Press office
- Tel:
- +44 (0) 20 7440 3351
- Email:
- Send us an email