Managing Science Communication in a Post-Truth Era

Abstract

SPEAKER: Jessica Malaty Rivera Science Communication Lead for the COVID Tracking Project REPORTER: El-shama Q.A Nwoko African Journal of Laboratory Medicine Plenary speaker Jessica Malaty Rivera is an Infectious Disease Epidemiologist and Science Communicator with 15 years of experience in disease surveillance research, public policy, and vaccine advocacy. She began her presentation by giving a background of her education and experience, then went on to share some best practices she has picked up through the years, which were implemented in the COVID Tracking Project. She concluded by sharing the aim, language, and science of science communication. Background Malaty Rivera received her Master of Science degree in Emerging and Infectious Diseases from Georgetown University 10 years ago. After that time, she worked at the now defunded Division of Integrated Biodefence at Georgetown. The Division focused on biosurveillance, serving as an “infectious disease Weather Channel” that identified indicators and warnings of emerging animal and human epidemics and pandemics. The Division translated information from over 50 different languages into reports and algorithms for predicting the severity of impending outbreaks. Using this approach, the Division detected the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic. This experience, Malaty Rivera says, prepared her for her role as a science communicator. Sadly, she noted that the Division could not detect the COVID-19 pandemic because it was devalued and ultimately defunded. She reemphasized the role of biosurveillance in pandemic preparedness and stated its current lacking hugely contributed to the COVID-19 pandemic unpreparedness as there would have been some warning indicators in […]