It was around February of 2022 when I called my brother in Germany and discovered he had acquired a case of COVID with relatively mild symptoms. During the call, he began lecturing me about how the CT Value (cycle threshold value) of the COVID PCR tests was indicative of how much virus you had in your body. For a moment, I was perplexed. What did my brother know about this stuff, I wondered? Surely (I thought) he knew I did my PhD 20 years earlier on quantitative PCR to detect viruses. How was it that he was now explaining this stuff to me? I realized I probably never really told him what my PhD was about.
I am a veterinarian by training, and books like “The Hot Zone” and movies like “Outbreak” fascinated me enough to get a PhD in virology. During my graduate studies, we had a case of mad cow disease for diagnostics at my vet school in Germany, and West Nile virus had just reached the USA. It was a new era where we seemed to wake up to news about new diseases regularly. I was fascinated by these diseases and tried to read every book about them that I could get my hands on.
Many of the diseases emerging or re-emerging now fall into the realm of “One Health.” As a veterinarian you are trained to talk to your patients’ owners about animal diseases and zoonotic diseases, the ones that jump from animals to humans. By nature, veterinarians are closer to One Health concepts than “people doctors.” I enjoyed those talks. In fact, I would say I am definitely an infectious disease scientist who is passionate about educating the public.
For me, the turning point came when a friend at a party asked me about a COVID conspiracy theory. It was during a time of escalating misinformation, not only on social media, but at the highest levels of government. Misinformation was also rampant in my personal interactions. During that time, I felt a tremendous level of frustration and concern, and I took on the challenge of correcting misinformation as much as I personally could.
Science literacy surveys show that only 1 in 5 people can explain the scientific method. But medical research scientists are constantly applying it and working hard in their labs to make discoveries that improve lives.
The problem is we haven't done enough to bring the public along in understanding our work. That means misinformation can spread more easily, whether it's unfounded miracle cures or climate change denial.
But here's the good news - scientists like me want to do better at communication. While we may get deep into technical details when speaking to each other, we want to share the basics of our research in understandable ways.
So, I decided to start a blog, make videos simplifying complex topics, and actively engage with the public through a podcast. My goal became to do what I could to make science more accessible and understandable.
Through public talks, interviews, social media, and lighter reading materials, scientists are making their work more accessible. We love to explain how we arrive at conclusions, which requires honesty about uncertainties and mistakes made along the way.
With this blog, I plan to do my part here. This year, I aim to tell One Health stories from an infectious disease perspective. Through this process, perhaps a few non-scientists will understand a bit about virology, zoonotic diseases, and One Health. It’s the stuff I’ve been passionate about for decades.
Improved science communication benefits everyone. It builds public trust and excites people about new discoveries that positively affect lives, and it – we can only hope – will combat some of the misinformation and false claims.
Everyone deserves to understand the science that is shaping our world. As a scientist, I am excited about sharing.
