Summary
Sunny Shin’s laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania was hit hard by the pandemic. Her team lost months of work, students missed graduations, and postdocs faced running out of funding. Shin herself was overwhelmed by child care duties and research responsibilities. But her lab is getting back on track, returning to near-normal work conditions with more virtual options and a bigger focus on mental health. Meanwhile, her university is also investing more in mental health resources, hoping to combat the stigma around students who seek help. “When a student enters our school, they will now have access to multiple support systems from Day One,” says the university’s chair of cell and molecular biology.