Investing in scientists as individuals is the way to halt the pandemic, says NGO

Roughly one year ago, Brazilian scientists were faced with severe budget constraints, while public institutions leading the country’s most promising research projects were shockingly dismissed as dens of “shenanigans” by the Education Minister himself.

With Covid-19 sweeping the world off its feet, investments have been pouring in for equipment and infrastructure, in a desperate attempt to fight the pandemic. But governments and the private sector must not forget that investment in scientists and health professionals as individuals should be longstanding, as they are also the best hope to stop the pandemic and to create new technologies. This is the view of Marcia Fournier, a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and board member of Dimensions Sciences, a non-profit organization that works to foster minorities’ inclusion in scientific environments in the U.S. 

In an interview with The Brazilian Report, Dr. Fournier debated the consequences of the pandemic for international science — from the need for long-term investment plans to the perils of misinformation and how unprecedented cooperation may affect research in Brazil and elsewhere.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. 

The education budget in Brazil suffered a number of budget freezes in 2019, intensifying what was an ongoing process. Do you believe that the need to fight the pandemic may reserve or at least improve this situation?  

People are mobilizing to support science. We have initiatives from the government and, more recently, from the private sector as well, which is amazing because they are investing in infrastructure for health and technology. But I believe this must be a long-term investment, there has to be continuity.

Also, these funds are for Covid-19 — which is great because we need that now — but many of the technologies that we are benefiting from came from other areas, from projects that were not related to...