But who will trust the science and agree to take that eventual vaccine, under which conditions? That, among other areas, is where social scientists can help, she said. Medical research matters, of course, Peek said - most of all that which seeks to produce a vaccine. “Think about what’s happening right now with the massive inequalities that are emerging in this pandemic and the social and economic fault lines that are opening wide.” “It’s during moments of crisis when oftentimes we can learn most about the social order,” said sociologist Lori Peek, director of the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder. And the coronavirus pandemic is one hell of a lens, they say. Many social scientists see disasters as invaluable lenses through which to study the good, the bad and the ugly of human societies. Perhaps less predictably, social science research is having a moment, too. COVID-19-related medical research is booming for reasons obvious and urgent.