Working during COVID-19

With a high level of coordination and discussion with her staff to minimize risk, Nilu Goonetilleke has kept her lab running during COVID-19.

Like any good boss, Goonetilleke recognizes each member of her team has a life outside of research, and those commitments and responsibilities are now invariably complicated due to the pandemic.

"My lab manager has two young children at home," she says. "And a lot of people are in that situation right now – they have to provide full-time childcare while they still have to manage a job."

For Goonetilleke, the key is to be flexible, communicate well, and accept the impact on efficiency. "It's not possible to run your lab at 100% during a pandemic," she says. "And that's okay."

Goonetilleke has been working from home to allow individual staff members to use her office as a personal workspace.

"It's nice for them to have a private space where they can work without wearing a mask for a few hours," she says. "And I've figured out I can run my lab effectively by Zoom. Everyone is still being very productive."

While her lab is not researching COVID-19, Goonetilleke and her team are supporting virus research efforts in other ways.

"In my case, that means reviewing COVID-19 grants for the NIH or providing PPE where there are shortages," she says. "Everybody is doing what they can to help."