Turning Back the Tide of Anti-Science: Frontline Reports and Engagement Strategies

Satellite ID: SA23
Satellite Organizer: CUGH Advocacy and Communications Committee and the Council for Quality Healthcare Communication

Date: March 7th, 2024

Time: 8:00am - 12:00pm
Room: Hollywood

Across the country, scientists are under attack. Rampant disinformation threatens our profession, and escalating personal attacks threaten our personal safety in the workplace and at home.  We know that we can no longer rely on knowledge and reason alone to protect our profession and our careers. We need to start here at CUGH to mobilize a coalition of academics, scientists, and public health professionals, and equip ourselves with tools to push back against antiscience aggression, both online and in the field.  Presenters and panelists, live and on video. include Sara Gorman, Celine Gounder, Peter Hotez, Katelyn Jetelina, Sam Mendez, Ayman El-Mohandes, Scott Ratzan, and Ken Rabin.

Agenda

8:00–8:30 a.m. The Challenge of Antiscience Now

  • Opening Remarks

    • Scott Ratzan, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy

  • Why I had to combat these threats head-on

    • Peter Hotez, Baylor College of Medicine

  • What are Americans saying about scientists and public health officials today?

    • Spencer Kimball, Emerson College Polling

8:30–9:00 a.m. What are the Main Drivers of Antiscience?

  • Audience Input

  • Discussion

    • Sara Gorman, Critica

    • Caroline Orr Bueno, University of Maryland ARLIS

    • Scott Ratzan

    • Spencer Kimball

9:00–9:30 a.m. What Happens When It Gets Personal?

  • How I handled antiscience attacks amid a personal tragedy

    • Celine Gounder, KFF

  • It isn’t always easy to be Your Local Epidemiologist; how I defuse attacks

    • Katelyn Jetelina, EpiMonitor

  • Q&A

9:30–9:45 a.m. Break

9:45–11:20 a.m. Fighting Back: Practical and Scalable Approaches

  • Leveraging disinformation research and analysis to prevent future attacks

    • Sara Gorman

  • A digital safety kit to manage on-line harassment

    • Samuel Mendez, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

  • Prebunking (and its antecedent, propaganda analysis)

    • Ken Rabin, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy

  • Implications of our work for mitigating antiscience attacks

    • Tara Kirk Sell, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security

  • Combating scientific distortion and building trust and information resilience in communities with our HIPE™ dashboard

    • Linda Desens, MITRE Labs Health Innovation Center

  • Two new national initiatives to advocate and provide solutions – the Coalition for Trust in Science and Health, and the Council for Quality Health Communication

    • Scott Ratzan

  • Q&A

11:20 a.m.–Noon Supporting Each Other to Oppose Antiscience

  • Audience input and discussion

    • Ayman El-Mohandes, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health &Health Policy

    • Sara Gorman

    • Katelyn Jetelina

    • Samuel Mendez

    • Tara Kirk Sell

    • Linda Desens

  • Summary and next steps

    • Scott Ratzan