One important lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic is that the health of our nation is inextricably tied to the health of its citizens. So it's not surprising that health-related technologies are so well represented among the 2020 FLC National Award winners - accounting for nearly one-third of the 28 team awards.
The pandemic has also taught us that many health-related technologies, and the research underlying them, can be adapted to address challenges other than those for which they were originally developed. And, although COVID-19 has been the nation's recent focus, all of the health-related technologies featured in this year's National Awards share that potential for adaptability.
A personalized approach to treatment of patients with advanced cervical or metastatic cancer could be adapted to other populations. A global surveillance strategy used to detect HIV-1 drug resistance could be adapted to other conditions where resistance is a challenge. And a wastewater treatment technique used to decrease ammonia levels could end up having health benefits that haven't even been considered yet.
Please join us in congratulating the award winners on their innovations, noteworthy both for the benefits we know about and for those that have yet to be explored. The winners who have not yet been featured in a previous Spotlight are listed first.