Editor’s Note: The 2021 SOT Annual Meeting Opening Plenary Session was delivered by Laura Lindenfeld, PhD, the Executive Director of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. In her presentation, titled “Blending Art and Science to Master Science Communication,” Dr. Lindenfeld introduced the SOT Virtual Meeting attendees to the science underlying the art of the Alan Alda Center’s unique approach to science communication.
“Communication for toxicology can’t be an afterthought.” –Dr. Laura Lindenfeld
During the Opening Plenary Session of the Virtual SOT 60th Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, Dr. Lindenfeld discussed approaches for improving science communication and the importance of communicating effectively in a field where public health is impacted. The primary takeaway? Science communication should be tailored to your audience and is most effective when you establish trust early on by listening.
During her talk, Dr. Lindenfeld emphasized the need to make science accessible—to the point where your audience is able to ask questions and connect with your work. Embrace curiosity and keep the conversation dynamic. People may forget what you said, but they won’t forget how you made them feel.
Dr. Lindenfeld stressed that presenting facts without understanding the unique values and experiences of your audience won’t be successful. She advised that scientists should establish themselves early as someone who is willing to listen to what their audience is saying and adapt their communication as needed. Overwhelming someone with information that doesn’t match their world view and experiences won’t be successful. Additionally, the level of detail you present depends on your audience; it has to be digestible and appropriate. Frame your work in ways that are relevant. Get to your point quickly.
Interestingly, Dr. Lindenfeld believes that jargon can be OK if used strategically. In essence, the scientific language you worked hard to hone can be important to establishing a sense of expertise, but jargon should never be used in a way that creates a barrier to understanding. Key terms, of course, should be defined.
Specific strategies for communicating effectively? Commit to moving every conversation forward—even if you disagree with what has been said—and build off the communication of others with phrases like “yes, and. . . .” Accept your audience’s unique perspectives and use their feedback to find common ground. Keep a positive attitude and treat the conversation like a partnership where you are problem solving together.
If you are a presenter at SOT, you know your audience and it’s possible to do homework in advance to anticipate the viewpoints of your colleagues. When you are speaking to people you haven’t met, tailoring your communication can be much more difficult. Reflecting on Dr. Lindenfeld’s advice, I wanted to end with some examples of how I might adjust explanations of my research.
To a lay audience: Our lab is working to develop new treatments for blood cancers that selectively kill cancer cells containing genetic mutations, while sparing a patient’s healthy cells. This will allow for targeted treatments that improve patients’ chances of survival while minimizing side effects. The first step in developing targeted treatments is to identify which genetic mutations occur most frequently in cancer patients. Then, we need to understand how these mutations are acting to change healthy cells into cancer cells by identifying which cellular processes are disrupted. Once we have a working model for how a mutation causes disease progression, we can identify stages in this process at which therapeutic intervention is possible.
To a toxicologist: Chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL) is a rare myeloproliferative neoplasm characterized by the overproduction of neutrophils. One of the genes that is frequently mutated in CNL is SETBP1, which mutated in 45% of patients. SETBP1 mutations predict poor overall patient survival and the mechanisms of SETBP1 in disease progression and relapse are poorly understood. Using novel preclinical models, I identified a new, well-tolerated therapeutic strategy for SETBP1-mutant disease. In addition to therapeutic development, these models can be utilized in future studies of gene-environment interactions, and to evaluate the role of occupational and environmental exposures in leukemia progression.
To a study section: While SETBP1 (SET binding protein 1) mutations are associated with poor prognosis in myeloid leukemias, the mechanisms underlying SETBP1-driven leukemia progression are incompletely defined. In leukemia patients, mutations in SETBP1 are localized to a degradation motif and lead to SETBP1 overexpression at the protein level. The SETBP1 protein has a documented role as a transcription factor and in the regulation PP2A tumor suppressive activity. There is a critical need to identify molecular targets involved in SETBP1-driven leukemia progression that can be leveraged for therapeutic development. To identify these targets, it is imperative to understand how SETBP1Mut modulates oncogenic programs through direct DNA binding and interactions with co-activator proteins.
This blog was prepared by an SOT Reporter and represents the views of the author. SOT Reporters are SOT members who volunteer to write about sessions and events in which they participate during the SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo. SOT does not propose or endorse any position by posting this article. If you are interested in participating in the SOT Reporter program in the future, please email Giuliana Macaluso.
Sessions delivered during the 2021 SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo will be available on the Virtual Meeting Platform on demand to registrants through May 31, 2021.
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