SAN FRANCISCO — The Health Research Alliance (HRA) and PLOS are pleased to announce the winners and honorable mentions of the Reimagine Biomedical Research for a Healthier Future Essay Challenge.  The biomedical research enterprise experienced a year of reckoning in 2020. Global cooperation to create a COVID-19 vaccine at an unprecedented pace shows the promise of research. Yet the pandemic, the resulting economic and social uncertainties, and the urgency of addressing systemic racial and regional inequities all add to longstanding concerns about the sustainability of the biomedical research enterprise.

Most of us in the biomedical research community agree — we need a new vision for a healthier future. We invited the community to submit ideas that re-commit to serving society and achieving an equitable, diverse, and creative environment for all those working to advance scientific discovery and improve human well-being.

The winners and honorable mentions of the challenge will all present their ideas in a Reimagine Biomedical Research for a Healthier Future Symposium to be hosted by HRA on September 23, 2021, from 12–1pm EDT (UTC−04:00).

Here are the winning essays, which were published as perspectives in PLOS Biology and PLOS Medicine:

• Empowering grassroots innovation to accelerate biomedical research.
  Bastian Greshake Tzovaras, Michael Rera, Edwin H. Wintermute, Katharina Kloppenborg, Juliette Ferry-Danini, Guy Aidelberg, Rachel Aronoff, Ariel Lindner, and Dusan Misevic
• An open science pathway for drug marketing authorization–Registered drug approval.
  Florian Naudet, Maximilian Siebert, Rémy Boussageon, Ioana A. Cristea, Erick H. Turner

Four honorable mentions essays are posted on PLOS’ Your Say blog.  The fifth essay is in press at a non-PLOS journal.

• Building a Diverse and Equitable Biomedical Research Ecosystem
  Naira Abou-Ghali, Jenny Bratburd, Peter Myers, Megan Schroeder, Pawan Upadhyay
• Closing the Great Divide: Bridging Research and Community
  Sue-Ling Chang
• Decolonizing STEMM Training for a Just Biomedical Research Future
  Debra Karhson, Shaila Kotadia, (Drs. Karhson and Kotadia contributed equally to this essay), Taylor Jones IV, Jesse Isaacman-Beck, Eamon Byrne, Brenda Flores
• Restructuring Diversity in the Biomedical Research Enterprise
  Carlos Moreno
• The Worth of a Scientist (in press at a journal) Sophia George, Svasti Haricharan, Vidhya Munnamalai, Shreya Raghavan, Ayesha Saleem, Yvette Yien

To spark conversation and action, we encourage you to read the perspectives and the blogs, and to attend the symposium on September 23, 2021, prepared to ask questions of the authors.