Funders fear return to ‘fragmented’ disease research

Pandemic cooperation could wither due to “Infectious Nationalism” or back to normal scenarios, says Glopid-R

As scientists around the world are praised for working together internationally to fight Covid-19, the head of a major network of funding organisations has warned of the risks of a ‘back to normal’ situation of uncoordinated global disease research.

There is “a clear need for greater coordination and efficiency to address the current pandemic as well as future pandemics”, said Charu Kaushic, chair of the Glopid-R group—which includes large R&D funders such as the European Commission, UK-based charity the Wellcome Trust, the South African Medical Research Council and the US-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.