As the alarming trend of health misinformation continues to grow, more clinicians are increasingly called upon to address this public health threat.
In response, Duke Human Vaccine Institute (DHVI) Training and Mentoring Program Co-directors Maria Blasi, PhD, associate professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Wilton Williams, associate professor of Surgery in the Division of Surgical Sciences, are inviting Department of Medicine faculty and trainees to take part in their popular interactive series, "Taking Science to the Streets."
“Taking Science to the Streets” is a series of one-hour, bi-weekly virtual sessions dedicated to discussion of the science behind the policies of managing infectious diseases and debunking science from myth. Guests from the world over are invited to talk on a variety of topics in academia, industry, government agencies and the community in informal question-and-answer sessions moderated by DHVI trainees and faculty.
Bridging A Gap
“It would be great to include discussions on the clinical manifestations, issues or outcomes related to some of our topics,” Dr. Williams said. “We're not in the hospital setting. We're not on the frontline seeing people affected by some of these diseases or downstream effects of miscommunication or bad science. We could bridge that gap.”
Sessions are engaging, timely, and provide personal perspectives from the likes of Dr. Stanley Plotkin, author of “Vaccines,”— the standard reference book on the subject.
“We also express our vulnerabilities as scientists in these sessions, so people see that in real time and can learn from our experiences and those of our guests. It would be great if the faculty from the Department of Medicine could join in, provide a clinical perspective, and demonstrate that level of vulnerability so residents can see that.”
Former guests include “Science” magazine staff writer Jon Cohen, who spoke about his approach to communicating vaccine research to the public. Other guests included an editor from “Cell” magazine, two South African investigators who talked about their effort in engaging people for new HIV treatment, and Duke’s Dr. Cameron Wolfe, who became the public health face of Duke during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Guests are asked specifically not to prepare a presentation because the sessions are deliberately informal and delve into personal experiences and perspectives.
“This is another way to see these important scientists share a little about their career path and how they've been approaching some of the issues that we saw during the pandemic,” Dr. Williams added. “It provides an avenue for people to discuss science in a comfortable setting, and not just science but the pathway for a lot of scientists and researchers. People see themselves in those individuals as they talk about their career trajectory and personal history. People love that part about it. At least I do.”
Medical Misinformation
Medical misinformation is a major concern.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Drs. Blasi and Williams realized that society was being inundated with misinformation about vaccines and effective anti-viral modalities while their students were feeling isolated and stressed. In April 2020, they started meeting with them as a happy hour of sorts; a time to chat and check in with colleagues – this informal interaction led to the birth of this interactive forum known as “Taking Science to the Streets”.
“We realized we could use this opportunity to actually talk about science communication because there was a lot of fake news at that time around vaccines,” Dr. Blasi said. “Then we realized that maybe, as scientists, we do a good job of communicating with each other, publishing papers and going to conferences, but we don't do a good job at talking to the lay public and explaining what is it that we really do and how vaccines really work. And we wanted to empower trainees to be able to do that with their friends and communities.”
The COVID-19 pandemic, in fact, highlighted a gap in collective scientific training, they noticed: teaching scientists about communicating with the public should be part of scientific education starting at the earliest stages of an investigator’s career.
“We need to start with early education: We need to go to high schools and start talking about vaccines and educating people before it's too late to change their mind,” Dr. Blasi said.
For more information on “Taking Science to the Streets,” contact Whitney Edwards Beck.