The Effects of the Coronavirus on Physiology

As COVID-19—the disease caused by the novel coronavirus—has sickened millions and killed more than 155,000 people in the U.S., the virus has also halted critical physiological research and shuttered labs across the nation. This is according to nearly 100 researchers who responded to an informal poll conducted by the APS. Survey respondents reported furloughs, layoffs and delays in research completion. The immediate fallout is vast, and the effects could be long-lasting.

Fifty-eight percent of trainee respondents said lab closures due to COVID-19 may increase the time it takes them to complete their training. Forty-five percent of respondents reported setbacks in long-term, time-sensitive experiments or loss of specialized research resources.

“Due to the immediate shutdown of the lab, we were forced to abandon time-sensitive animal experiments in which we had already invested a number of months in data acquisition and interventions,” said one researcher. “We will need to restart these experiments, but are unsure of how this work will be funded.”

Among other findings:

• 28% of faculty-level researchers have experienced furloughs or salary reductions.
• 60% of researchers have experienced delays in recruiting new students, staff and postdoctoral researchers due to closures and hiring freezes.
• 82% of faculty-level researchers believe that coronavirus-related closures will negatively impact their ability to apply for grants and maintain continuous funding.

View survey results broken out by question, below.

Respondent Career Stage

Please indicate your career stage so you can be directed to the section of the survey with the relevant questions:

Career Stage	Percent (N=97)
Undergraduate Student	6% (N=6)
Graduate Student	0% (N=0)
Postdoctoral Fellow	18% (N=17)
Other (Trainee)	1% (N=1)
PI/faculty member/lecturer (Primary role is educator)	16% (N=15)
PI/faculty member/staff scientist in an academic or non-academic setting (Primary role is researcher)	57% (N=55)
Other (Non-trainee)	3% (N=3)

Trainee Responses

Do you anticipate that closures related to COVID-19 will increase the time it will take to complete your training?

Answer	Percent (N=19)
Yes	58% (N=11)
No	21% (N=4)
Not Sure	21% (N=4)

Have coronavirus-related closures impacted your ability to apply for outside funding, such as grants or fellowships?

Answer	Percent (N=18)
Yes, it has impacted my plans	39% (N=7)
No, I am still able to apply	22% (N=4)
I was not planning to apply for any grants or fellowships	39% (N=7)

Has your salary been cut or have you been furloughed from your current position?

Answer	Percent (N=18)
Yes	6% (N=1)
No	94% (N=17)

Have coronavirus-related closures caused cancellation of conferences or meetings where you were scheduled to present your research?

Answer	Percent (N=18)
Yes	83% (N=15)
No	17% (N=3)

Have coronavirus-related closures affected your career plans?

Answer	Percent (N=19)
Yes	32% (N=6)
No	37% (N=7)
Not Sure	32% (N=6)

Have coronavirus-related closures impacted your ability to seek new positions, such as internships, fellowships or jobs?

Answer	Percent (N=18)
Yes	28% (N=5)
No	61% (N=11)
Not Sure	11% (N=2)

Have budget cuts affected your ability to maintain your association memberships?

Answer	Percent (N=19)
Yes	11% (N=2)
No	89% (N=17)

Do you believe that home and family responsibilities due to the COVID-19 restrictions will negatively impact your career progress?

Answer	Percent (N=18)
Yes	50% (N=9)
No	33% (N=6)
Not Sure	17% (N=3)

Principal Investigator Responses

Have COVID-19 disruptions led to damage or loss of specialized research resources such as animal or cell lines or prematurely ended long-term, time-sensitive experiments?

Answer	Percent (N=65)
Yes	45% (N=29)
No	51% (N=33)
N/A	5% (N=3)

Has your salary been cut or have you been furloughed from your current position?

Answer	Percent (N=65)
Yes	28% (N=18)
No	72% (N=47)

Have you had to lay off skilled staff from your lab, been unable to hire staff (including undergraduate students), or has your workforce been reduced due to coronavirus-related restrictions?

Answer	Percent (N=65)
Yes	49% (N=32)
No	51% (N=33)

Have coronavirus-related closures affected your ability to recruit new graduate students, staff, and/or postdocs to your laboratory?

Answer	Percent (N=65)
Yes	60% (N=39)
No	17% (N=11)
Not Sure	23% (N=15)

Have budget cuts affected your ability to maintain your association memberships?

Answer	Percent (N=65)
Yes	26% (N=17)
No	74% (N=48)
Not Sure	0% (N=0)

Do you believe that home and family responsibilities due to the COVID-19 related restrictions will negatively impact your career progress?

Answer	Percent (N=65)
Yes	34% (N=22)
No	40% (N=26)
Not Sure	26% (N=17)

Do you believe that COVID-19 will affect your ability to earn tenure at your current institution?

Answer	Percent (N=64)
Yes, it will make it harder to achieve tenure	14% (N=9)
Yes, but accommodations are in place to account for lost research time	17% (N=11)
Not Sure	11% (N=7)
No	16% (N=10)
N/A	42% (N=27)

Do you believe that coronavirus-related closures will negatively impact your ability to apply for grants and/or maintain continuous funding?

Answer	Percent (N=65)
Yes	82% (N=53)
No	3% (N=2)
Not Sure	15% (N=10)

Have coronavirus-related closures impacted funding decisions for grants you have applied for that were or are under review?

Answer	Percent (N=65)
Yes	19% (N=12)
No	43% (N=28)
Not Sure	39% (N=25)

Respondent Demographics

Are you a current APS member?

Answer	Percent (N=83)
Yes	92% (N=76)
No	5% (N=4)
Not currently, but I have been in the past	4% (N=3)

What is your ethnicity?

Answer	Percent (N=83)
Hispanic or Latino	11% (N=9)
Not Hispanic or Latino	83% (N=69)
I prefer not to answer	6% (N=5)

What is your race?

Answer	Percent (N=83)
American Indian or Alaska Native	1% (N=1)
Asian	10% (N=8)
Black or African American	2% (N=2)
Caucasian/white	76% (N=63)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	1% (N=1)
I prefer not to answer	6% (N=5)
Other	4% (N=3)

What is your gender?

Answer	Percent (N=83)
Female	58% (N=48)
Male	39% (N=32)
I prefer not to answer	4% (N=3)