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Communicating Science to Impact Policy

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Communicating Science to Impact Policy

Oct 12, 2015

许多科学家会争辩说,一些公共政策没有反映科学知识的现状. Arguably, 这种误解的部分原因可以归结为科学家和政策制定者之间的脱节. Christy Porucznik, MD, 犹他大学医学院家庭和预防医学副教授, 给出了在地方一级发生的误解的真实例子. 她描述了自己与政策制定者互动的经历,并给出了与他们和公众接触的技巧.

Episode Transcript

Interviewer: 科学家和公众之间经常感觉存在脱节. We'll talk about that next on The Scope.

Announcer: 检查最新的研究,告诉你最新的突破. The Science and Research Show is on The Scope.

Interviewer: I'm talking with Dr. 犹他大学家庭和预防医学副教授Christy Porucznik说. When it comes to science and the public perception of science, there can be a disconnect, 我认为气候变化和全球变暖的例子非常明显. 但你也有一些有趣的例子来说明这在地方层面上是如何发挥作用的. Can you talk about one of those?

Dr. Christy: 你知道,大发娱乐在电视上看了很多犯罪节目,人们可以进去,只是擦拭墙壁,调查事情,了解房间里发生的一切. A few years ago, 人们担心,如果消防员对有冰毒烹饪行为的家庭做出反应,他们可能会接触到什么, and a request for a study, a one year study, in order to figure out what was going on with those firefighters. What were they exposed to and what might the health risks be?
这是一个问题,因为只做一年的研究不太可能捕捉到大范围的接触和潜在的健康后果,这些接触可能在未来几年发生. So it was a disconnect that the public thought, "Science should be able to solve this," and science said, "Whoa, this is way too complicated to solve in one year. We need more time."

Interviewer: So yeah, it seems like there are a few different levels here. Communicating to the public is certainly one of them. What about communicating to policymakers? Why might that be important?

Dr. Christy: 与政策制定者沟通可能非常重要,因为他们可能是推动资助机构预算的人. 他们也可能是制定法规的人,这些法规可能会影响大发娱乐的研究,如果你需要法律或真正的改变来进行你的研究, maybe to work with stem cells, 然后你需要立法者站在你这一边,理解为什么你的工作很重要.

Interviewer: And I'm wondering if this is something that you've had experience with.

Dr. Christy: 当我在研究生院的时候,没有人告诉我,为了做我的研究,我必须修改法律, but I did. 我当时正在研究犹他州的处方药过量问题,我想使用受控物质数据库, 当时我不能使用,我最终与立法者互动,在犹他州国会两院作证,让法律改变,允许研究人员访问该数据库.
这是一次奇妙的经历,因为我以为他们会问的问题并不是他们问的问题, 这真的让我从一个不同的角度思考这项工作将会是什么以及为什么它很重要.

Interviewer: 你认为这些问题很好,能大发娱乐你以不同的方式思考吗?还是说这些问题无关紧要?

Dr. Christy: It was just really a difference of perspective. The concerns of the legislators were, "Well, are you going to look me up?“所以这让我意识到我需要更多地解释这项研究的目的和大发娱乐的工作方式, 这样他们就会明白,我的目的不是要搞政治迫害,也不是要知道我的邻居在做什么, 但目的是说作为一个群体,大发娱乐在这些药物方面做了什么? 一旦我能够传达,反对修改法律的力量就消失了.

Interviewer: What are some ways that we can reach out to policymakers specifically?

Dr. Christy: So believe it or not you can reach out to policymakers specifically. 如果你知道你正在做的事情即将在国会听证会上出现,或者会有一个指导方针的修订, 你可以整理一份相关工作的执行摘要,并将其发送给该委员会的工作人员. 你可以打电话说:“如果有什么问题,我随时都可以."
大发娱乐通常不会考虑这样做,因为作为科学家,大发娱乐觉得一旦大发娱乐的研究成果出现在科学文献中, well, it's there. Anyone can find it. But not anyone can find it. 这不仅仅是因为有时大发娱乐在付费墙后面的期刊上发表文章, 而是参议员的工作人员可能根本没想过去PubMed查一下.

Interviewer: I guess what this is really about is kind of closing the loop. 我认为科学家经常做他们的工作,让其他科学家知道, and then move onto the next thing. 但他们真的不能指望改变,除非他们大发娱乐看到它进入下一个阶段.

Dr. Christy: 大发娱乐考虑的是转化医学,从实验室到床边,从诊所到社区,大发娱乐的工作如何为医疗实践大发娱乐提供信息, 但如果大发娱乐不能与广大的观众交流,那么大发娱乐可能会错过一步. Communication is a skill and it's not one that we train very well, 但它是可以学习的,需要练习才能变得更好,感觉更舒服. Many scientists are introverts. They never want to be the person that people are paying attention to, but if it turns out that that needs to be your role, well, you can learn to do it better.
我只是想鼓励那些发现自己处在被人提问的位置上的人,想想他们如何为未来的这些经历进行练习, because if it's happened once it will happen again.

Announcer: Interesting, informative, and all in the name of better health. This is The Scope Health Sciences Radio.