Meet Minnesota's front-line scientists and researchers working behind the scenes to fight COVID

Six months now into this perplexing and powerful pandemic, we've grown accustomed to seeing our "front line" heroes whenever we venture out and also when we don't. We see them, masked of course, behind Plexiglass at the grocery store, dropping packages at our door, overheating in head-to-toe PPE to reach into our cars to test us for COVID-19. We continue to thank them for their invaluable and brave service. This month, though, we are pleased to introduce you to a different kind of "front line" hero. They are doctors, scientists, researchers — even a COVID-19 survivor — working largely behind the scenes in labs to track the virus, dig into data, study the efficacy of drugs and antibody tests, all with a common goal: To crack the code on COVID as quickly as possible and get our state and nation back on track. And while it's unMinnesotan to say this, we can and should be proud that so many national leaders reside right here in our state.