This special downloadable collection brings together recent McKinsey research and perspectives on the climate risks the world must confront and actions to reduce emissions.

A new federal fiscal year (FY) begins October 1, but lawmakers at deadline haven’t even agreed on stopgap funding needed to keep Washington fully functioning next month, let alone come to terms on a new budget for FY 2021.

As a result, nobody yet knows how much funding the NIH will have net fiscal year. President Donald Trump began the budget process in February, weeks before COVID-19 led to shutdowns nationwide, by proposing a record $4.9 trillion spending plan that would have cut the NIH’s budget by 7%, from $41.7 billion to $38.4 billion.

In 1920, a world wearied by the First World War and sickened by the 1918 flu pandemic desperately sought to move past the struggles and tragedies and start to rebuild lives. People were in search of a “return to normalcy,” as Warren G. Harding put it. Today, nearly every country finds itself in a similar position.

In an interview, Peter Meath, J.P. Morgan’s co-head of Healthcare and Life Sciences, Middle Market Banking & Specialized Industries, says the Covid-19 pandemic has cast a bright light on the life sciences industry with startups raising venture funding at record levels as the virus has transformed the way people usually do business in the sector. 

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Allen Burgenson had a job, his father explained as they stood on the sand.

This was Allen's first fishing trip, but he wasn't going to take anything from the bay. He was to return the water's gifts to the deep, where they'd belonged for hundreds of millions of years. 

If he spotted a horseshoe crab on its back, his father said as he held Allen's hand, that meant it was in trouble and needed Allen's help to get home. Allen just had to flip it over. Its 10 legs could make it the rest of the way back to the crashing waves. 

Image: https://www.usatoday.com

Across the country, the litmus test for many children’s entry into school, athletics and extracurricular activities, is their temperature. But experts and medical groups increasingly say that isn’t a good gauge of Covid-19 as many infected children and adults don’t get fevers. Furthermore, variability in individual temperatures as well as questions about the accuracy of body-temperature scanners and infrared contact-free thermometers put such checks at risk of potential error.

Image: https://www.wsj.com

Occean is a born-and-bred New Yorker. But, as she told Business Insider, she recently turned 30 and found that her city needs and wants had changed.

"I wanted things that NYC just couldn't offer, even on a $90,000 salary for a single, fiscally responsible person," she said. "I wanted a good quality of life, space in my home, a less crowded existence especially in my commute and general day-to-day, and access to the outdoors for some mental healing."

Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, rising unemployment, and 2020’s other woes, healthcare technology firms continue to go public. So far, six health tech firms have already gone public in 2020.  

In the world of entrepreneurs and startups, high level relationships are everything. You can’t start a business alone. You need partners, team members, investors, vendors, and customers. But people don’t realize that all relationships are not the same. There are people you only recognize on the street, business friends, and then close friends whom you can always count on to help.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

Wildfires rage in the West. Hurricanes batter the East. Droughts and floods wreak damage throughout the nation. Life has become increasingly untenable in the hardest-hit areas, but if the people there move, where will everyone go?

Image: A wildfire on the foothills of the San Gabriel Canyon that border the Mountain Cove gated residential community in Azusa, California. The Ranch 2 Fire burned over 4,200 acres. (Time lapse video by Jeff Frost)

A new study by the UO's Lauren Lanahan seeks to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on small high-tech firms and track the challenges and opportunities they face as the crisis continues to unfold.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced substantial disruptions to the U.S. and global economies, and in turn the innovative ecosystem," said Lanahan, an assistant professor of management. "We seek to characterize changes in the landscape of high-tech small firms that result from the ongoing pandemic and related policy responses, as well as to examine the direct impacts of these institutional policy decisions on the structure and health of the innovation ecosystem and its ability to supply and support public initiatives."

Washington, Sept. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Small Business Administration granted 24 awards up to $125,000 each for specialized training, mentoring, and technical assistance for R&D-focused small businesses under the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program administered by the SBA’s Office of Innovation and Technology. FAST seeks to improve outcomes in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs for underserved communities by increasing participation from women-owned, rural-based, and socially economically disadvantaged small businesses.  

The coronavirus pandemic has shown all of us how major clinical issues can focus efforts across both business and academia, and how quickly researchers and companies can pivot to find solutions for critical and high value opportunities. While the COVID-19 pandemic is clearly an outlier in this regard, and it is clear that only a small percentage of all the technologies being developed will be successful, the technologies that can make it to market quickly and that are able to meet customer needs in the most efficient and economic manner will likely move forward.

Image: https://www.insideindianabusiness.com

Billions of dollars could be on the way to Sand Hill Road this week, home base for Silicon Valley’s venture capital elite, after a string of initial public offerings.

Venture firms netted handsome returns on paper for their early investments. While the firms mostly won’t be able to sell their shares until lockup periods expire, proceeds from exits could provide the cash for them to fund the next generation of startups.

Image: https://www.bloomberg.com

Willingness to take a risk is the hallmark of a serious entrepreneur. That’s why one of the first questions that potential investors ask is “How much of your own money, and friends and family, have you put into the new business?” If you won’t risk yours, you won’t get investors to risk theirs.

Image: https://blog.startupprofessionals.com

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed thousands, upended daily life, halted the economy and shattered asset valuations. While a pandemic may be new to most of us, market volatility is not. Shocks like these remind us why we rely on our investment principles and how important it is to have portfolios that are aligned with our clients’ overall plans and goals. This crisis has also sharpened our focus on what we do best: advising clients on which building blocks can help weather the storm, finding securities that are not reflecting their fundamental values, and identifying trends that will drive growth in the future. To help shed light on the current market environment, we’ve outlined below the key investment themes and “megatrends” that have emerged.

Madam C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, was America’s first female self-made millionaire. She pioneered a line of hair care and beauty products for people of color early in the 20th century, and the recent Netflix series “Self Made” details the story of this talented innovator and the challenges she overcame on the way to her success.

Image: Madam Walker was willing and able to face uncertain situations as she grew her business. The Smithsonian via Wikimedia Commons

COVID-19 has created a new reality for organizations returning to the workplace. This new way of working presents challenges for the physical and emotional, career, and financial wellbeing of employees, along with operational challenges for employers. But within these challenges, there are opportunities for organizations to emerge stronger and more closely aligned with their workforce. Download the Gallagher Better WorksSM Insights COVID-19 Report Volume 3 to explore a wide range of timely subjects, including:

Image: https://www.entrepreneur.com

It may be hard to believe after all these months, but the shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical health care supplies for dealing with the pandemic in the United States still haven’t been solved. Instead, they continue and some have gotten worse. Hospitals, nursing homes, and medical practices routinely have to waste time and heighten their disease exposure by decontaminating disposable masks and gloves for reuse. Many organizations must still forage for critically needed equipment through back channels and black markets. And while the supply of ventilators is no longer an issue, shortages of ICU medications and test-kit reagents remain.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ranked Switzerland number one in the world for innovation for the tenth consecutive year. Switzerland is immediately followed by Sweden, the US, the UK and the Netherlands. A second Asian economy - South Korea - has broken into the top 10 for the first time this year, and a group of Asian economies – China, India, the Philippines and Vietnam – have continued to climb in the rankings.