We want to hear from you: The effect of COVID-19 on BC’s health research community

In a short amount of time, the COVID-19 pandemic has instigated rapid change and uncertainty within BC’s health research community. Lab closures, work from home arrangements, reduced access to resources, and increased caregiving responsibilities are just a few of the immediate impacts we’ve heard about from our community.

We know there are additional concerns around long-term impacts of COVID-19, including changes in research questions and needs, funding availability, impacts on talent development, and regional health research capacity.

This is why we reached out to our research community to listen and better understand the needs of our community.

In order to get a full picture of how BC health researchers and the health research community at large has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, we launched a province-wide survey to generate the data we need. We analyzed the response data that informed MSFHR’s strategic decision making and future actions. The results were published in this article.

As BC’s provincial health research funding agency, we’re as committed as ever to enabling responsive, relevant research to support BC’s response to the pandemic and ensuring BC’s health research community has the resources it needs to continue doing world-class research during a time of rapid and inequitable change.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Learn more about MSFHR’s COVID-19 research response, a part of BC’s coordinated approach to the COVID-19 pandemic.