There’s a growing worldwide trend of distrust in science and medicine—a trend thrown into sharp relief by the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccination campaigns. How did we get here and what can we do about it?

Watch our discussion of the pivotal issue of trust in science. How has the past influenced the distrust we’re seeing today? What is in store for the future? How can scientists and science journalists work together to build trust with more effective communication—to engage and inform public discourse? 

In Science We Trust Recording.transcript

Webinar was presented by the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT and The Hastings Center.

Panelists:
Bioethicist Lauren Taylor, NYU, The Hastings Center
Scientist Christopher Reddy, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute/MIT
Journalist Nicholas St. Fleur, STAT
Moderator: John Evans, UC-San Diego

Lauren A. Taylor, PhD, MDiv, MPH, is an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a senior advisor to The Hastings Center. She is co-editor of The Hastings Center’s recent special report, Time to Rebuild: Essays on Trust in Health Care and Science.

Christopher Reddy, PhD, is a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and teaches and advises graduate students at the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography. He has communicated his research findings on oil spills to a wide range of interested parties and recently wrote about his experiences in his recent book, Science Communication in a Crisis: An Insider’s Guide.

Nicholas St. Fleur is a general assignment reporter, associate editorial director of events and host of STAT’s health equity podcast, “Color Code.” He covers the intersection of race, medicine, and the life sciences. 

John Evans, PhD, is the Tata Chancellor’s Chair of Social Sciences and Co-Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics at the University of California, San Diego, and a Hastings Center fellow.