Campus Review Vol 30. Issue 06 | Page 24

industry & research campusreview.com.au COVID collaboration Using interdisciplinary research to battle timely global issues. By Jun Wen and Wei Wang Perhaps no topic in recent history has garnered as much public and academic attention as COVID-19. News of this pandemic has saturated the international airwaves since it was first reported in late 2019. In its wake, life has ground to a near complete halt: businesses are shuttering, many professionals are working from home and education has shifted online – all while parts of the world struggle to cope with a disease outbreak unlike any in recent memory. Keeping pace with the pandemic’s evolution is a priority for many. But while media coverage of COVID-19 is vast, it is also contradictory. News stories can be biased – politically and otherwise – when providing information about the virus and how best to manage it. A certain degree of inconsistency is to be expected; after all, this disease is something of a moving target in and of itself, like its viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) structure. New discoveries about its transmission, behaviour and treatment seemingly emerge every day. It is therefore unsurprising that medical professionals, newscasters and other involved parties may have differing opinions on what the virus means for local citizens and the greater world. We are grappling with new laws and regulations, engaging in unfamiliar activities and being forced to confront a novel reality. Some are doing so without their usual support systems. Few people could have foreseen this level of isolation and anxiety even three months ago. Put simply, nothing about our current circumstances is normal, and the unpredictability of this unprecedented pandemic has proven challenging for everyday people and academics alike. The gravity of COVID-19 makes it all the more important that the public be provided with clear, objective information. Science is immeasurably valuable, but not always digestible. One way to address potential misunderstandings about the virus is to bring the medical and social sciences together. By combining the strengths of these two domains, researchers and media outlets can provide timely, accurate information to those who need it most. THE HARD AND SOFT APPROACH The ‘hard’ sciences, such as medicine, are essential in the fight against COVID-19. Relevant information about the virus, how it functions, and a possible future vaccine can only be uncovered by medical and other life science experts. Yet the potential for miscommunication arises when scientific findings are not well translated for the general public. The nuances of viral spread are at times beyond the reach of everyday people. But awareness is our strongest ally: only by arming ourselves with knowledge will we have the best chance of controlling COVID-19 while protecting our own and others’ health. As a complement to the hard sciences, social science researchers can assume a key role in promoting the spread of accessible information. The advantages of social science contributions are multifold: not only can we learn about COVID-19 from an epidemiological standpoint, but we also begin to process how the pandemic has altered daily life as we know it. Indeed, as citizens and professionals await a vaccine in hopes of eradicating this pandemic, social scientists can wield their communicative power to explore the ways in which the virus has changed how society functions. At its core, social science is reliant on human behaviour and interaction. This dependence makes it an ideal partner to the medical sciences when it comes to transforming highly complex information into news that a lay audience can understand. While social scientists generally take a broader view of human phenomena, medical scientists often prefer a more granular approach – hence their focus on the innermost workings of human health. A POWERFUL ALLIANCE Science should not be siloed. Just as bifocals can be used to clarify a person’s vision, by combining these two scientific lenses, we can see a more holistic and accurate picture of COVID-19. The need for interdisciplinary work around COVID-19 is clear, as true knowledge discovery rarely occurs in isolation. Consider, for example, how many disciplines have contributed to research on obesity – another global health problem. We know more about this condition than ever thanks to input from biologists, geneticists, nutritionists, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, public health experts and others. Such “meetings of the minds” can move scientific domains beyond methodological comparison to identify new ways of addressing research questions. STRENGTH IN DIFFERENCE Yet it is worth noting here that difficulties in communicating medical science do not only affect media consumers; similar obstacles exist between medical and social scientists. Even when these scientists decide to join forces in the fight against COVID-19, numerous challenges can arise. Several barriers must be broken if interdisciplinary work is to be carried out successfully. For instance, these two academic camps – the so-called hard and soft sciences – have long been viewed differently. In the hierarchy of science, the hard sciences 22