Reagents vs. Remedies
Dr. Foster is a principal investigator at UNC and works with a team of scientists who study diseases like malaria that primarily affect poorer regions of less developed countries. Dr. Foster has begun to realize how much money has been spent to set up his lab and how much money is required to keep his lab running. For example, he has numerous micropipettes worth $300 a piece, a $30,000 qPCR machine, and an $80,000 ultracentrifuge. Additionally, he regularly has to order expensive reagents and replace disposable lab equipment. Compared to $2.00 mosquito nets that could prevent multiple people from contracting malaria for years, the funds spent on and within Dr. Foster’s lab seem ludicrous.
Additionally, Dr. Foster knows that with his expertise, he could be directly helping to diagnose and treat malaria cases in affected regions. He has no desire to move out of the country and cease his research, but at the same time, he wants to help those who are least well-off. Also, he does not want his research to draw resources away from others who are doing this type of field work.
Dr. Foster brings up this topic with one of his undergraduate lab assistants, Kelsey. She grew up in rural eastern North Carolina, and when she was young, she was involved in a car crash. Kelsey remembers traveling many hours across the state to get multiple surgeries at one of the large medical centers in the Piedmont region. She knows that she was lucky to have enough monetary support from her parents to receive these treatments. She is friends with multiple people from her hometown who would not have been able to afford this level of care. Although Kelsey recognizes the need for improved medical care in impoverished regions of the world, she believes that we should focus on solving our own healthcare discrepancies and inequalities before giving that level of support to other countries.
As of now, Dr. Foster is unsure how to remedy this dilemma. He knows that the research he is doing has the potential to help millions of people who will be affected by malaria but also that his expertise and funding could go a long way toward helping people who are currently affected by the disease. Additionally, after talking to Kelsey, he now wonders if he should help those in local communities rather than those halfway across the world.
How should individuals go about acquiring and utilizing research funding?
Do individuals have more of a responsibility to help those in their local communities than others worldwide?
Should those who have a greater capacity to help others have any more of a responsibility to help others?
