Student Updates

Communicating Science through Conversation (and Cartoons)

The Medical Campus welcomed Mariette DiChristina, Dean of BU’s College of Communication, on Tuesday, Nov. 26, for an informative and visual Provost Workshop.

With 35 years of experience as a journalist, Dean DiChristina is among the nation’s most accomplished science journalists, editors and managers. She has been both editor-in-chief and senior vice president of Scientific American (2009-19) and executive vice president, editorial and publishing, magazines, of its parent company Springer Nature (2015-19), overseeing the magazine section of the journal Nature and related titles.

Through conversation (and a relevant cartoon on each slide in her deck), Dean DiChristina provided expert insight into what’s happening in the media ecosystem. The intensification of the Internet has turned news into a commodity. Reading behaviors have changed, shifting to digital platforms, but the new media ‘echo chamber’ is still reliant on old-fashioned reporting.

To explain this, she referenced American writer Stewart Brand, quoting a 1984 speech: “On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time.”

But there is hope! According to the National Science Board’s Science and Engineering Indicators 2018, Americans have high confidence in the scientific community; and this perception has endured over three decades, only second to confidence in the military. People agree that scientists work for the good of humanity, help solve problems and want to make life better for the average person.

“I know you all know this, but perhaps at no time have more of the critical policy questions of the day turned on science. Perhaps at no time have more people been spouting utter nonsense about science. Perhaps at no time have laypeople been consuming more science stories online. It’s our opportunity,” said Dean DiChristina.

She suggested the different ways the scientific community can bring their unique perspective on a variety of platforms—essentially, anywhere they feel comfortable participating:

• Blogs, videos and podcasts
• Social media, illustrations and cartoons
• Talks to the public and classroom visits/assemblies
• Letters to the editor and op-eds
• Personal and institutional lab websites, articles in consumer publications and newsletters
• And of course, interviews with journalists

Dean DiChristina emphasized the importance of good storytelling to reach an audience because “people can stop reading at any time,” so she suggested thinking of their needs, not yours:

• Answer the “so what?” question
• Explain in ways audience can understand, avoid jargon
• Give anecdotes, narrative details, analogies
• Tell why it’s important to know now (timely)
• Include pictures, good explanatory art, video, audio, etc.

When you want to share your science with the world, stop for a second. Dean DiChristina broke it down into five easy steps:

1. Pick your audience: Tailor your messages for who you’re going to be communicating with.
2. Pick your messages: What do you need to get across?
3. Pick your medium: Try to incorporate your research wherever you are.
4. Speak their language: Invite people in and tell a story. Many people aren’t necessarily convinced by facts alone, but do appreciate a story that personifies your point.
5. Make connections for readers: Explain why science matters to them.

“A way scientists can help is to explain not just what you know, but how you know it. Stop trying to make a presentation -- just tell us your story,” she said.

Kimberly Sullivan, PhD, Receives 2019 Soaring Eagle Award from Center for Military Health

Kimberly Sullivan, PhD, research assistant professor of environmental health at BU School of Public Health has received the 2019 Soaring Eagle Award given annually by the Strategic Advisory Board of the BU Center for Military Health (formerly known as BU Center for Military and Post Deployment Health) to an individual who has made significant contributions to the health of our nation’s Veterans and active duty military members through innovation and advances in clinical care, research, education or public advocacy.

Dr. Sullivan was selected as this year’s recipient in recognition of her dedication to understanding and improving health outcomes of Gulf War veterans through decades of outstanding research on various aspects of Gulf War Illness (GWI).

She served as the Associate Scientific Director for the congressionally directed VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC-GWVI) from 2008-15, co-chaired the joint VA/DOD Common Data Elements Working Group for GWI in 2018 and currently serves on multiple VA executive advisory committees for GWI research.

She is a behavioral neuroscientist and currently leads two large multi-site consortia studies for GWI research funded by the Department of Defense. She is Principal Investigator (PI) and Director of the Boston Gulf War Illness Consortium (GWIC) which includes nine study sites and was designed to determine the pathobiology of GWI. Through the GWIC studies multiple key new avenues for diagnostic markers and treatments for GWI have been identified. She also serves as PI and leads the large 10-site Boston Biorepository and Integrative Network (BBRAIN) for GWI, which was designed to share biospecimens and foster collaboration within the GWI research community. In addition, Dr. Sullivan serves as site PI for multiple treatment trials including intranasal insulin, Co-enzyme Q10 and multiple phase I/II trials of the multi-site GWI Clinical Trials Consortium (GWICTIC) to treat the cognitive, fatigue and other chronic health problems in veterans with GWI.

Dr. Sullivan has worked in the field of behavioral neurotoxicology since the mid-1990s, and has coordinated multiple studies focused on chronic health effects from neurotoxicant exposures from military deployments (i.e., pesticides, nerve agents, heavy metals, prophylactic medications) and their neurobehavioral and neuroimaging outcomes as well as gender-based outcomes in military veterans and predisposition and risks for development of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease, stroke and Parkinson disease. She received her Bachelor’s degree in 1991 from Curry College and her PhD in 1999 from Boston University School of Medicine.

2019 Emerging Leaders Program a Success

The 2019 Emerging Leaders Program convened in October to further develop the leadership skills of promising Medical Campus – faculty at the ranks of Assistant or Associate Professor.

More than 40 faculty members from the Schools of Medicine, Public Health and Dental Medicine attended the two-day workshop held on the Fenway Campus. Hosted by the BU Institute for Health System Innovation & Policy (IHSIP), the program introduced selected rising faculty to strategic health sector concepts and principles important to leading and managing in the rapidly changing health care environment.

“Every health care organization needs to invest in the development of its emerging leaders,” explained program moderator and IHSIP Director Jonathan Woodson, MD. “We must ensure they have the right competencies to help navigate the organization through the challenging and accelerating pace of change in healthcare.

Hee-Young Park, PhD, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at BUSM, is an advocate for the program: “The Emerging Leaders Program has been offered to Medical Campus faculty since 2007 to develop leadership skills and to meet and collaborate across disciplines in SPH, SDM and BUSM. Many past participants now hold leadership positions, including department chair, program director, and assistant or associate deans.”

Sessions were taught by Questrom’s Health Management MBA program faculty and covered topics including negotiating skills, leadership styles and financial decision making. Attendees also participated in other classes, including:

• Leadership Self-Awareness & Team Leadership Qualities
• Leading in Turbulent Times – Forces Shaping Health and Health Care
• Leadership Philosophy
• Tools for Operation Management
• Effective Teamwork – Driving Changes
• Bringing It All Together – Leadership in Action

“The Emerging Leaders Program provided an opportunity to network with colleagues I would not normally interact with. The small groups supported our diversity of backgrounds and the presenters were engaging and obviously experts in their field,” said Priya Garg, MD, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Dean of Medical Education at BUSM.

Associate Professor of Psychiatry Laurie Craigen, PhD, said, “Prior to the Emerging Leaders Program I never truly defined myself as a ‘leader.’ I left this program with a renewed mindset and a new definition of myself. The program is both empowering and affirming. I am grateful to the speakers for sharing their knowledge and expertise with us – I am already applying what I learned in my work as a faculty member and clinician.”

This program was sponsored by BUMC’s Office of the Provost.