Dropping everything-or being forced to-for COVID-19 had widespread effects. On this fifth anniversary of the pandemic, three Université de Montréal researchers look back on the consequences-both positive and negative-of the crisis on their projects.
COVID-19: the centre of attention
"It was a disaster: we had numerous ongoing research projects-particularly on pediatric asthma-that we had to halt overnight," recalled Benoît Mâsse, a professor in UdeM's Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, in the School of Public Health (ESPUM).
While some of those projects have since resumed, the interruption of clinical trials compromised the reliability and validity of the work. Alongside his ESPUM colleague Sylvana Côté, Mâsse shifted focus to how COVID-19 and school closures affected kids.
"We found that students who were already performing well lost nothing, while those struggling academically were impacted even more severely," said Mâsse, who's also been exploring the effects of long COVID and has begun new, non-COVID-related work.
Some structures born from the pandemic have endured, he added. The Observatory for Children's Education and Health, for example, was created during the health crisis to study its impact on children.
"The work of the Observatory continues," said Mâsse. "We're using the network established during COVID-19 not only to address educational challenges exacerbated by school disruptions but also to tackle other issues, such as sedentary behavior: while not a pandemic, it too can lead to chronic diseases in adulthood."
A catalyst for new collaborations
Caroline Quach-Thanh, a professor in UdeM's Department of Microbiology, Infectiology, and Immunology, shares a similar view. "The pandemic was primarily a catalyst for new collaborations, especially with immunologists," she said.
As for most scientists, her research was either interrupted or redirected during the crisis. Some of her international collaborations that had started receiving funding were paused or canceled due to restrictions on travel by her team.
"I had just secured two grants: one for a study on the epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal infections in Morocco and Senegal, and another for a study with Belgium on preventing nosocomial infections," Quach-Thanh recalled.
Despite these disruptions, her expertise in vaccine-preventable diseases and nosocomial infection prevention was quickly mobilized for COVID-19 projects. The knowledge gained during the two years of crisis will also help prepare for future pandemics, she said.
"COVID-19 allowed us to establish a research platform that now benefits pediatric research, particularly in pandemic preparedness: the POPCORN platform, which I lead and which has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and later by Canada's Biomedical Research Fund."
Adapting for COVID-19-and beyond
As a specialist in HIV/AIDS, Quach-Thanh's colleague Andrés Finzi naturally pivoted toward the new virus that exploded in the spring of 2020: SARS-CoV-2.
The virologist's previous work proved invaluable in the race to understand the coronavirus, to develop vaccines, and to study immune responses.
"We were working on glycoproteins, which are the key entry points of HIV into cells," he recalled. "So we started studying SARS-CoV-2. Although their mechanisms are different, the transition wasn't too complicated."
Finzi and his team made significant contributions to COVID-19 research, studying vaccine efficacy, treatments such as convalescent plasma therapy, hybrid immunity, and even the (re)discovery of a molecule to combat the virus.
"One of my lab's key areas of expertise is analyzing how antibodies recognize the virus's entry point and summon other immune cells to eliminate infected cells," he noted.
Far from being just a pause, the research done during the pandemic has advanced knowledge that will benefit HIV research and the study of other viruses, Finzi believes. "Of course, we would have preferred to avoid the stress that came with it!"
The tools developed for SARS-CoV-2 are now being repurposed to study avian influenza.
"We're working on what could become the next pandemic," said Finzi. "We don't want to relive what happened five years ago-it was brutal." Mâsse shares this concern, warning that avian influenza could eventually spread between humans.
Beyond scientific progress, researchers hope that several lessons have been learned from the pandemic.
Firstly, fundamental research is essential, they say. "It's very difficult to predict what will be useful in the future," Mâsse pointed out. "That's why academic freedom, which allows researchers to explore various avenues without the immediate constraints of applying for grants, is crucial for advancing knowledge."
And secondly, international collaboration continues to be vital for rapid scientific progress.
However, given the current political climate, concerns remain.
"My biggest worry isn't about biomedical research itself but rather the broader societal context," Mâsse noted. The spread of disinformation and the dismantling of reputable American organizations will complicate global scientific cooperation, he added.
"It will likely become much harder to foster solidarity among the general public."
