A look at how COVID-19 research funding was spent: Owens

In a recent University Affairs article, Brian Owens examines the research funding provided for COVID-19 over the past 18 months by the federal and provincial funding bodies and discusses the programs' effectiveness using the perspectives of several academics. Paola Marignani, a molecular biologist at Dalhousie University, noted that the funds may have been more effectively spent by adding them to regular open competitions to fund projects in related areas, while Jim Woodgett, a cell biologist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute explained that political pressure would have made it difficult to invest in a long-term strategy. Shirin Kalyan, an immunologist at the University of British Columbia, noted that the broad criteria for funding made it difficult for peer reviewers to gain clarity on what kinds of applications were desired. University Affairs (Editorial)