Sustained Research Fund and Dedicated Research Center to Prepare for the Next Pandemic

The current COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is imposing a great threat to human lives and international panic the like of which has not been seen since WWII, resulting in financial crisis, disturbance to daily life, transportation shutdown, industry disruption, and country/city lockdown in every corner of the globe. The inability to effectively contain the virus indicates that our investment and attention to research, prevention, and development of treatment for this type of deadly virus are insufficient, considering that it has been 18 years since outbreak of the "brother" coronavirus, SARS-CoV. The biggest lesson learned from acrimonious past experiences is that humans quickly forget and do not continue to support related research when a pandemic has passed. This is a wake-up call for governments, industry, and private foundations to work together and to take extraordinary measures to sustain research support and establish comprehensive research centers. Only this level of response may give us hope to prepare for the future and adequately deal with the next potential pandemic caused by emerging devastating viral infections.