Giving Compass' Take:

• The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is supporting research on the COVID-19 pandemic that will address critical data gaps and provide insights. 

• Are there opportunities for you to fund scientific research on COVID-19?

• Learn about data sharing in COVID-19 research. 


At the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, we believe that ideas grounded in science and research can create long-lasting change, and that critical discoveries mount over time. Our founders deeply valued science, and objective, independent research underpins our decision-making across the Foundation.

Now faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists and researchers across the country are working day and night to develop treatments and therapeutics to help those who test positive for COVID-19, to explore science-based solutions like software applications that will help communities understand and address the virus, and to develop a safe and effective vaccine.

As they grapple with the current pandemic, government officials are making public health decisions with profound consequences for lives and livelihoods. Research and robust data on the prevalence, spread and impacts of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, will ensure they are not flying blind.

Existing data collection efforts (i.e., testing for the virus) is appropriately focused on the front lines of the pandemic to ensure effective delivery of medical care to those in need of it. However, researchers and officials also need community-scale sampling to rigorously answer questions such as “How many people have the virus and how is it spreading?” or “What impact is the COVID-19 pandemic having on people and communities?” The answers to these questions are essential to helping officials understand the impacts of the disease on communities, and to helping them decide when and how to appropriately adjust or relax public health directives, such as social distancing and shelter-in-place, so that individuals can get back to work and communities can stay safe.

To address these critical data gaps, the Foundation sought to support research efforts around the pandemic that had yet to be funded, but could yield data and scientific insights that could be crucial to society’s response.

Read the full article about philanthropy supporting scientific decisions at The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.