The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by SARS-CoV-2, has caused severe disease outcomes and widespread infections not seen in terms of its case fatality rate and global economic impact since the 1918 to 1919 Spanish flu, with the latter leading to 675,000 deaths in the United States (US) (50 million worldwide) (1). The US currently has the largest number of SARS-CoV-2 infections in the world, with tremendous health, economic, and social ramifications, including closing of schools, businesses, and all public gatherings in order to maximize social distancing and prevent virus spread. Here, we address the major impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on biomedical research, the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic for research-intensive institutions, and what investigators can do to maintain some level of research activity while keeping their coworkers and trainees safe and engaged. While research unrelated to COVID-19 has slowed and remote work has placed significant constraints on the efficiency of operations, research on COVID-19 has exploded with energy and urgency.