SciComm Roundtable – Part 1 – Scientists and the News Cycle – What The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Taught Us So Far

This is the first of a 3-part series that will close the first season of Papa PhD. The world is still very much fighting and trying to understand the COVID-19 pandemic at the moment this episode is airing, so I am bringing you the interventions of my guests on a panel that took place in May, titled "Scientists and the News Cycle – What Role Can We Play?" In this first part, I talked with Monica Feliu-Mojer, Ph.D., with Joana Lobo Antunes, and with Adriana Bankston about the impact the pandemic has had on their professional lives and on the lessons they have learned, so far. Part 2, coming up next week, will focus on the role academic institutions and scientific associations can play, in terms of science communication, in a context such as the ongoing pandemic. #gallery-3 { margin: auto; } #gallery-3 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-3 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-3 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */ Adriana Bankston, PhD Joana Lobo Antunes, PhD Mónica Feliú-Mójer, PhD Episode transcript: David Mendes: Welcome everyone here. I’m super happy to be here today, discussing the role of the scientific community in today’s, situation, which is the COVID pandemic. We’re going to talk about all the challenges that society and the scientific community has faced during this crisis and what solutions, also have been, working so far. What hasn’t been working and at different levels. I’m going to start by reading a little introduction and then I’ll also introduce the guests who are here. In the wake of the worldwide spread of SARS-CoV-2, these last few weeks have seen world leaders sending out mixed messages and trying to trace a path on a moving terrain with questions like social distancing, wearing of masks, and lockdown. On another front, while doctors, epidemiologists and virologists have been working around the clock to understand COVID-19 and take control of the pandemic, and to advise politicians and policy deciders, we’ve seen a movement of disinformation and conspiracy theories that has been gaining traction and visibility with video content circulating and passing on fake news that is tricking the general public into lending it a credibility that it doesn’t deserve. In our live discussion today, we are going to talk about the challenges this pandemic has faced the scientific community with, we are going to discuss what role researchers and the scientific community at large can play during a world crisis, such as this one and we are going to try and get a wide-angle view of how the scientific community has been impacted at the policy level, at the level of universities and at the community level. To discuss these issues today I have with me Dr. Adrianna Bankston, Dr. Joana Lobo Antunes and Dr. Mónica Feliú-Mójer. Dr. Adriana Bankston is a principal legislative analyst at the University of California Office of federal governmental relations in Washington, DC. Prior to this position, she was a policy and advocacy fellow at the society for neuroscience where she provided staff support for special and ongoing projects, including SFN’s annual lobby event and the society’s annual meeting. In addition to working at UC, Adriana also serves as the director of communications and outreach for the journal of science policy and governance—JSPG—and is an associate member of the public policy committee with the American society for cell biology. For the past several years, Adriana has also been an active member in the nonprofit organization Future of Research, where she’s currently the vice president and has previously served as the associate director of fundraising and strategic initiatives. Adriana received her bachelor’s in biological sciences from Clemson University and her PhD in biochemistry,