Life Science Tennessee’s strength is our members: Experts with diverse knowledge in everything from biomedical research to medical devices and therapies to innovative agriculture practices.
At a time when the world’s attention is turned toward the life sciences as the driving force behind a cure, we wanted to give our experts the chance to talk about their work and the myriad contributions of the life science industry to the health and well-being of people around the world. Today, we’re launching a new series called “Through the Lens” where each month we feature a different LST member offering his or her expertise.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of continued funding for drug development and discovery—and the long road to these cures. For the first entry in this series, Ted Townsend—LST board chairman and chief economic development and government relations officer for the University of Memphis—writes about the university research underway related to SARS-CoV-2 and the value of collaboration.
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With the advent of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) global pandemic, the hopes of the entire world rest on the development of innovations and technologies that will deliver novel diagnostic tests, therapeutic treatments and preventative vaccines—supported by a robust, global biologistics supply chain. There is but one industry that can meet the challenge to combat and eradicate the threat of this virus: The life sciences.
So much is already underway to understand the complex mechanisms of the virus and its biological manifestations. But the fuel of this rapid comprehension is generated through the highly sophisticated apparatus of academic and private sector research.
The reliance on effective data and discovery will ultimately influence how we respond and recover in every facet of our daily lives. Health care protocols, technology utilization, socio-economic policy, education and workforce environs will all be impacted by what the basic and applied research tells us.
The rapid response and urgency of an expectant world audience further complicates the demands on the research. But we trust the scientific process and firmly believe that solutions will be discovered.
Here in Tennessee we have witnessed a swift statewide mobilization of subject matt