In a new opinion piece published in The Hill, leaders in academic medicine examine the COVID-19-related disruptions to biomedical research progress. The authors reflect on the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, which forced the immediate shutdown of thousands of scientific laboratories throughout the United States, delaying progress against existing and emerging threats and potentially jeopardizing a setback in the careers of the research workforce — especially women, trainees, and early-career investigators. Important research work and many clinical trials were interrupted or delayed and are just starting to recover. The authors call for an investment in the nation’s research infrastructure to regain momentum and ensure that the scientific pipeline of discoveries and the next generation of scientists is not impeded.