Anna Dominiczak
THE biggest benefit of being part of the European Union is also, post-Brexit, my greatest worry: people.
Scotland currently attracts skilled clinicians, scientists and researchers at all stages of their careers because of the freedom of movement the EU allows. They bring added value to our universities, hospitals and country as a whole. They do jobs in areas where we might not have enough competition locally and bring with them a diversity that drives the international approach of Scotland.
Students choose our country because they are treated like home students, and welcomed. At the University of Glasgow we currently have more than 1,000 European staff and students in the biomedical field. I worry enormously that, in a post-Brexit world, Scotland and the wider UK will no longer be attractive, be seen as welcoming, be viewed as a possible home. Worse, that Brexit may also provide the opportunity for other European countries to take back their talent. The UK currently attracts skilled individuals from across the EU due to our great tradition of excellent biomedical research; and, in Scotland, we have many EU nationals working in crucial fields such as neuroscience, cancer, cardiovascular and infection/inflammation research.
Read more: Beyond Brexit - Free movement 'absolutely essential' to Scottish life science research
Of course we can attract colleagues from other parts of the world, but not with the same ease as with our European neighbours. With EU citizens, there are no visas and no barriers. We currently have European clinicians and scientists who have been here 15 years and have never had to worry about a passport – until now.
The EU funds collaborative multi-country research projects, and it is these networks that are even more important than money. With great difficulty, we might recreate the money for research projects; but we can’t recreate the networks that could be in jeopardy at the loss of shared funding. Money is very important, but people and the ability to work together across Europe to address major health issues, biomedical and life science problems are of even greater concern.
Currently, the UK frequently leads medical studies, co-ordinating colleagues from across the EU studying the same health issue, which brings enormous added value to clinical research through leadership, access to data and different patient populations, as we work together to answer common global health questions.
Read more: Beyond Brexit - Free movement 'absolutely essential' to Scottish life science research
Scotland is, and must remain, known as a place to come to for clinical research, clinical trials and precision medicine.
We must address the issue of movement of people. We can’t afford to lose this advantage that allows us to compete on an international level with countries like the United States when it comes to attracting talent. Post-Brexit, we need to find a transparent and low-cost system that works for all, continues to value skills and is not prohibitive in terms of red tape and time when recruiting academics and students.
The UK currently benefits from an EU system that encourages collaboration and allows us to tap into the talent of 28 countries and a single source of funding for research projects. Given that is likely to change as a result of Brexit, in order for the UK to continue playing a key role on the international stage, we must champion a new system that works on a global level and simplifies the act of collaborations, which are so crucial to the global advancement of biomedical science.
Not only must we endorse a new system, we must ask ourselves how the UK can offer leadership in devising a system that removes any burden of working with colleagues in other countries and encourages us to build new relationships across seas and borders. Given the UK is home to world-leading scientists, with so much to offer the world in terms of medical research in diseases not limited to our own shores, such as malaria and Zika, such a move would hopefully be welcomed.
My hope is that our European colleagues who value our contribution to their networks will be supportive of finding new ways of working together as we move forward in a post-Brexit world. Science and medical research should have no borders.
When I came to Scotland from Poland 34 years ago, there were parts of Europe, including Poland, that were deprived of a role as an international player because of the Iron Curtain and the existence of borders. The European Union changed that. It may be an uncomfortable truth, but truth it is nonetheless – Brexit threatens that mobility, and that should be a warning heeded by everyone.
Read more: Beyond Brexit - Free movement 'absolutely essential' to Scottish life science research
Professor Dame Anna Dominiczak, Regius Professor of Medicine, vice-principal and head of the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences at The University of Glasgow.
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