Researchers Discuss Life Sciences Trends During Power Meal
Halfway through 2022 already, we decided to use this as a checkpoint and host a Power Meal around the driving forces that have changed the life sciences industry historically – and what we can expect to see in the future.
Over catered lunch from BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, eight individuals gathered in the fifth floor conference room of Bridgeside Point to join in on a group discussion about previous trends and upcoming innovations in life sciences:
AUTOMATION
Human error is always a great concern, especially in the life sciences industry. To combate this, attendee John Villandre, Research Specialist, Aging Institute, mentioned how automation has been making it easier and faster to conduct research than ever before. According to The National Center for Biotechnology Information, “protocols in the academic life science laboratory are heavily reliant on the manual manipulation of tools, reagents, and instruments by a host of research staff and students.” However, automation can be extremely beneficial in several different areas, including reproducibility, researcher efficiency, clinical translation, lab efficiency, faster translation, and safety.
FUNDING
Of course, at the forefront of any research is funding and grant money to support such initiatives. Zhihao Sun, Postdoctoral Associate, Aging Institute, shared how difficult obtaining funds can be. Despite heavy interest from investors in 2020, the biotech sector underperformed in 2021, meaning that funding opportunities may decrease in future years. Additionally, the market is incredibly competitive, meaning applicants will have to work even harder to secure funds. But there’s a catch-22: Time spent producing proposals for grants essentially takes time away from researching, but researchers can’t continue their work without funding. Often times research focuses will also shift direction in order to get money. Fortunately, there seem to be several sources at this time to work with and once someone has received a grant, the next rounds of funding becomes easier and easier.
DIGITIZATION
COVID-19 obviously caused disruption everywhere, but in the pharma and medical technologies industries it accelerated a digital transformation. Both sectors were forced to adapt from traditional, onsite clinical trials to a remote, decentralized approach. For instance, remote monitoring solutions, such as telehealth, wearables, and sensors, were adopted in order to keep up with the changing times and constraints the pandemic put in place.
Additional trends facing the life sciences industry today were also mentioned:
We also asked participants to share what new piece of technology would help most in their field. Responses included:
Advances in live-cell probing
Biomaterial design
Gene editing
Multiomics analysis
New sequencing methods
Senolytics
Conversations continued as the Power Meal was winding down, with attendees vocalizing how they’d love to hear from industry leaders at future activations. To be the first to know about our upcoming events, subscribe to our newsletter and check out our calendar.