Looking Back: What We Learned From the Pandemic
The worldwide viral challenges of the past few years have brought into sharp focus the importance of my research field: the study of bioaerosols, the microbiome, genomics and bioinformatics. With the sudden global breakout of COVID-19 in early 2020, these academic disciplines were no longer theoretical, but had real-life consequences for the safety of people in workplaces, public spaces and at home. For the first time, the scientific specialties that I have studied and researched for many years gained greater visibility, and new appreciation. My post-doctoral research into whole-genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 was particularly relevant as the sudden appearance of COVID-19 led to searches for answers to some fundamental questions, including how the virus was transmitted, how long it could linger in the air, how wide its distribution pattern was, and what effective measures could be taken by individuals, institutions, businesses and governments to protect the population. My work has exam
