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Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on research and careers of early career researchers: a DOHaD perspective

Part of: DOHaD Covid-19 Collection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 March 2022

Amita Bansal Open the ORCID record for Amita Bansal [Opens in a new window] ,
Giselle A. Abruzzese Open the ORCID record for Giselle A. Abruzzese [Opens in a new window] ,
Erandi Hewawasam ,
Kyoko Hasebe ,
Hirotaka Hamada ,
Zahra Hoodbhoy Open the ORCID record for Zahra Hoodbhoy [Opens in a new window] ,
Hanna Diounou ,
Carlos A. Ibáñez ,
Rosiane A. Miranda  and
Thea N. Golden
...Show all authors
Amita Bansal*
Affiliation:
ANU Medical School, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia John Curtin School of Medical Research, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
Giselle A. Abruzzese
Affiliation:
Center for Pharmacological and Botanical Studies (CEFyBO), School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires (UBA)-National Research Council (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Erandi Hewawasam
Affiliation:
Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry (ANZDATA), South Australian Health & Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Adelaide, SA, Australia Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Kyoko Hasebe
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmacology, School of Medical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Hirotaka Hamada
Affiliation:
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan
Zahra Hoodbhoy
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
Hanna Diounou
Affiliation:
Université de Paris, Institut Cochin, INSERM, CNRS, Paris, France
Carlos A. Ibáñez
Affiliation:
Reproductive Biology Department, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico
Rosiane A. Miranda
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Endocrine Physiology, Biology Institute, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Thea N. Golden
Affiliation:
Center for Research on Reproduction and Women’s Health, Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Kozeta Miliku
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada Department of Pediatrics, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
Carmen R. Isasi*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA
*
Address for correspondence: Amita Bansal, ANU Medical School, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, 131 Garran Road, Acton, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Email: amita.bansal@anu.edu.au; Carmen R. Isasi, 1300 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. Email: carmen.isasi@einsteinmed.org
Address for correspondence: Amita Bansal, ANU Medical School, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, 131 Garran Road, Acton, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia. Email: amita.bansal@anu.edu.au; Carmen R. Isasi, 1300 Morris Park Ave, Bronx, NY 10461, USA. Email: carmen.isasi@einsteinmed.org
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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed several inequalities worldwide, including the populations' access to healthcare systems and economic differences that impact the access to vaccination, medical resources, and health care services. Scientific research activities were not an exception, such that scientific research was profoundly impacted globally. Research trainees and early career researchers (ECRs) are the life force of scientific discovery around the world, and their work and progress in research was dramatically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. ECRs are a particularly vulnerable group as they are in a formative stage of their scientific careers, any disruptions during which is going to likely impact their lifelong career trajectory. To understand how COVID-19 impacted lives, career development plans, and research of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) ECRs, the International DOHaD ECR committee formed a special interest group comprising of ECR representatives of International DOHaD affiliated Societies/Chapters from around the world (Australia and New Zealand, Canada, French Speaking DOHaD, Japan, Latin America, Pakistan and USA). The anecdotal evidence summarized in this brief report, provide an overview of the findings of this special interest group, specifically on the impact of the evolving COVID-19 pandemic on daily research activities and its effects on career development plans of ECRs. We also discuss how our learnings from these shared experiences can strengthen collaborative work for the current and future generation of scientists.

Keywords

Early career researchersECRDOHaDCOVID-19
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 13 , Issue 6 , December 2022 , pp. 800 - 805
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press in association with International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease

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Footnotes

†

Joint first authors

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