Opinion: At a Crossroads: Reimagining science, engineering, and medicine—and its practitioners

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has cast a bright light on the importance of science and evidence (1). Epidemiologists have provided public health advice informed by experience with epidemics and are sharing best practices for halting the spread of the virus. Biomedical scientists are researching how the virus works, testing treatments, and racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine. This work reinforces previous calls from the National Academies and others for strong investments in science and mathematics education; science, engineering, and medicine research; and the translation of new knowledge into products and processes that improve public health, spur economic growth, and maintain national security (2⇓–4). Recent events have shined a bright light on intractable inequalities in US society. The science enterprise is far from immune. Although there has been progress, the science community can do much more. Image credit: Shutterstock/Tverdokhlib. Although its high level of contagion means that everyone is vulnerable to the virus, the pandemic has also shined a bright light on intractable inequalities in our society. Several months ago, we, along with others, advocated for release of COVID-19 case data by race, arguing that we could not understand the impact of the virus unless we could see how it affected communities differently. When data were finally made available, the disparities were clear. Elderly and low-income Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, and Hispanics are infected by and dying from the virus in disproportionate numbers. Ibram Kendi has shown that the African American community has been particularly hard hit because of structural racism, economic inequalities, and health disparities (5). To paraphrase others, these differences provided the kindling and police brutality the match for the widespread fire of racial protest that has called for broad policy changes to address structural racism in America. The pandemic … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: hrabowsk{at}umbc.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1