Publications
Publications
- 2020
Mission-Oriented Research in a National Emergency: Lessons from the Office of Scientific Research and Development in World War II
By: Daniel P. Gross and Bhaven N. Sampat
Abstract
Since the beginning of the present COVID-19 pandemic, policymakers, researchers, and journalists have made repeated comparisons to World War II. In ongoing research, we have been studying the effects of the World War II research effort, which included a major medical research initiative that produced world-changing innovations as diverse as synthetic penicillin, steroids, antimalarials such as chloroquine, and the flu vaccine, as well as significant advances in our understanding of human physiology and in medical treatment techniques. In this essay, we seek to bring clarity to exactly what took place during World War II with respect to innovation broadly and medical research specifically, develop a deeper understanding of what made the research effort successful, and discuss the similarities and differences vis-a-vis the present. In doing so, we seek to identify the lessons that this historical experience offers us now -- both in the midst of the current crisis and for future preparedness.
Keywords
Innovation and Invention; Research and Development; Problems and Challenges; War; History; Government Administration; United States
Citation
Gross, Daniel P., and Bhaven N. Sampat. "Mission-Oriented Research in a National Emergency: Lessons from the Office of Scientific Research and Development in World War II." Working Paper, June 2020.