Journal of Regional Medical Campuses

Returning to a ‘New Normal’ in Regional Campus Research Laboratories during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sara L. Zimmer

University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1707-1839

Jean F. Regal

University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5713-0891

Janet L. Fitzakerley

University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4976-8868

Ruifeng Cao

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5105-7726

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/jrmc.v3i3.3350

Keywords: COVID-19; disaster recovery; regional medical campus; laboratory operations; SARS-CoV-2; operations template

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Abstract

In the spring of 2020, the worldwide biomedical sciences community anticipated a need to return to critical laboratory research prior to the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Models for accomplishing recovery from a worldwide disaster are mostly found in the business realm. In the pandemic situation, literature focuses on how governments or clinical care settings can best respond.  Very few guidelines exist for accomplishing the resumption of academic biomedical research, particularly for basic science laboratories and programs. A U.S. regional medical campus can be in a unique situation if it must follow the return-to-work dictates of the larger institution, and yet have different challenges and potential advantages from its parent institution. We present a model used by one such regional medical campus in order to navigate the resumption of laboratory research activities after COVID-19 driven operations shutdown. This model allowed us to accomplish our target of a rapid yet smooth return to the “new normal” way of executing laboratory research, although our success in mitigating SARS-CoV-2 transmission is an outcome that we cannot yet know. Templates for materials used in the resumption of laboratory activities are provided. The lessons learned in our experience of laboratory restart go beyond the current pandemic.