In an article about the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation-led COVID-19 Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists, Ms. Magazine details how the $12.1 million awarded to 22 medical schools across the United States seeks to transform workplace culture by supporting and acknowledging the importance of caregiving in clinical scientists’ lives. Changing workplace culture, the article notes, has the potential to remove the stigma associated with caregiving, which can contribute to better patient care and increased scientific breakthroughs. The initiative, with additional funding from the American Heart Association, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, the John Templeton Foundation, the Rita Allen Foundation and the Walder Foundation, provides early-career biomedical faculty with caregiving responsibilities supplemental resources — such as the abillity to hire a lab assistant — to balance the competing demands of their lives and keep their research on track.
Writes Ms. Magazine: "Several of the scientists interviewed for this article told us that since the grants were announced, many clinical scientists had expressed their gratitude, even those who did not intend to apply for the grants. The very existence of the program, they said, validates their struggles and ongoing need to support those who care. And it elevates caregiving, recognizing its importance in professional and personal settings."