“My statistical team is fantastic. It has been amazing to see them jump into and embrace the added workload without skipping a beat. This pandemic has made me grateful for my team and made me realize that we can be productive even in the midst of something like the coronavirus pandemic.”
Interaction and communication among study teams have changed. Charmayne Dunlop-Thomas, MS, MPH, associate director of research projects, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, notes that she “recognizes how we rely on our in-person dynamics and energies to fuel the brainstorming collaborative process.”
The impact of the reduced in-person social support is evident. Communication involves more than spoken or written words. Facial expression, intonation and gestures carry additional information and meaning that can be lost on telephone calls with team members and be less evident on video calls.
Loss of Data
One of the greatest losses is the loss of data. Insufficient preliminary data has prevented Melanie Smith, MD, PhD, a rheumatology fellow at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, from submitting a grant application for funding. When universities close, written questionnaires, surveys and spreadsheets can be transferred to remote locations. Some clinical (e.g., body weight) and performance-based (e.g., gait speed) data cannot be obtained.
ARP President Janet Poole, PhD, OTR/L, professor and division chief of the occupational therapy graduate program in the School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, says, “In rehabilitation research, participants come to us for assessments that can only be done in person, such as measuring balance, joint range of motion and dexterity.”
Animal models cannot be taken home. The sacrifice of animal models cannot be replaced. Grant Schulert, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Division of Rheumatology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, and Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, says, “We have completely shut down laboratory-based research in line with institutional restrictions. We are also very limited in recruiting patients for studies, both because they are not being seen physically at our location and because clinical research is suspended for all but high-priority, newly diagnosed patients.”
Time away from the lab can mean restarting certain projects or abandoning experiments.3 Dr. Poole had two research projects planned. One was an online fatigue intervention. “One of our variables was depression. I did not think we would see much positive change when people are stressed and anxious over the coronavirus, so that study will be delayed,” she says.
