For those of us in biomedical research, we cannot forget that academic (and biotech) science is OUR small business. We have some significant headwinds ahead and we need to start thinking about solutions.

1. labs have people home, expending salaries but not spending much on other lab-related expenses except keeping critical reagents going. Everyone doing their best to keep things going (it is hard for all, especially those at home with young families!)

There will be a lag in productivity on projects despite ongoing salary expenses.

2. There are going to be some resource needs to get labs back up and running asap (in vivo models, cellular reagents) which would not be normally expended.

3. Foundations dependent on continued fundraising events("pay as you go" will see a precipitous drop, and grants may drop significantly from such sources which will create reduced funding for grants for as long as 1-2 years

4. Trainees are especially vulnerable, particularly those on/soon to be on the job market. There will be delays, hiring freezes, and lots of belt tightening due to reduced resources esp at academic institutions with large health care systems.

We need to think about solutions. Some ideas (not all mine, discussed with many including Michele Cleart and @TheMarkFdn

1. No cost extensions are a given BUT NOT ENOUGH. Need competitive extension processes where investigators making progress but who need more time can get resources with a specific, sensible justification. Cannot be a dash for cash for another year for all.

2. Consider giving out grants/resources to support labs ramping back up, but mandate it is done collaboratively and the resultant resources are shared. E.g. if you support animals to be rederived, scaled up->people have to share them under MTA immediately.

3. Foundations with strong balance sheets need to partner with foundations with shared mission, strong grant programs and find ways to ensure the field supports the best ideas esp from young (and established) investigators.

4. We need to think about "out of the box" ways to create economical shared resources/capabilities, outside individual institutions. Some excellent examples with in vivo reagent repositories, imagine if a lot more our science was "backed up" or shared core facilities in a field

5. I am sure there are many, many more good ideas out there. Let's start brainstorming them!