PHOTO: BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
SCIENCE science.org 29 OCTOBER 2021 • VOL 374 ISSUE 6567^549AAAS video series focuses on combating misinformation
Since its earliest days in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has surged
across the globe with a twin pandemic of misinformation about the
disease’s causes, origins, treatments, and prevention. The rise in sci-
entific misinformation was on the mind of American Association for
the Advancement of Science (AAAS) videographer and multimedia
editor Neil Orman when he created a new video series showing how
AAAS-affiliated researchers are pushing back against this trend.
“AAAS Voices: Countering Science Misinformation” (www.aaas.
org/news/misinformation) interviews researchers who have made
combating misinformation a significant part of their careers. In five
videos launched this spring and fall, scientists discussed some of the
most prominent myths and false claims in their fields, while provid-
ing trusted resources and strategies to deliver those resources.
The series has discussed misinformation surrounding vaccines
with Maria Elena Bottazzi, associate dean of the National School
of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine; climate change
with Astrid Caldas, a senior climate
scientist at the Union of Concerned
Scientists; HIV with Collene Lawhorn,
a program officer in the Division of
AIDS Research at the National Insti-
tute of Mental Health; artificial intel-
ligence with Anita Nikolich, director of
research and technology innovation
at the University of Illinois; and sexu-
ally transmitted infections (STIs) with
Ina Park, a professor of family and
community medicine and obstetrics
and gynecology at the University of
California, San Francisco. All par-
ticipants are former AAAS Leshner
Leadership Institute for Public
Engagement fellows or AAAS Science
and Technology Policy (STPF) fellows.
“AAAS.org was moving in the direc-
tion of creating more original content
to further position the organization as a thought leader in STEM. The
Misinformation Series fit perfectly into this new approach,” AAAS
Director fo Communications Risa Dixon said.
Orman fleshed out the idea with previous supervisor Joel Gold-
berg, then brought the idea for a series to Dixon. Together with AAAS
senior writer Andrea Korte they began brainstorming topics. The
goal, Orman said, was not only to highlight areas of misinformation
but also to share concrete ways scientists are tackling
the problems.
“The series is positive in tone, focusing on constructive efforts to
provide accurate science information,” Orman said. “It allows them
to talk frankly about productive things they’re doing and suggestions
they have.”
In her video, Park talked about the myths surrounding STIs. A former
Leshner Leadership fellow, she offered a history of the stigma attached
to STIs and discussed the strategies she’s used to push past that
stigma to promote healthier discussions, such as encouraging health
care providers to share their own stories. “Those personal narratives
go a long way in countering things that folks read online,” she said, “andwhen they come from a trusted source like yourself, they are more
likely to sway patients.”
The Leshner Leadership fellows and STPF have been a rich resource
of experts for the videos. “When we asked for fellows who were working
to address scientific misinformation, responses were many, swift, and
enthusiastic,” said Kat Song, the communications and digital strategy
director for the STPF. “Mass communication is intrinsic to the strength
of democracy, and lots of STPF fellows are both professionally and
personally committed to advancing good public information.”
Bottazzi said she “jumped at the opportunity” to participate in the
series, “not only because I feel it’s my responsibility to convey my story
and my message, but also because AAAS has a wonderful reach with
the science community and general public.”
Her time as a Leshner Leadership fellow helped her become more
comfortable with speaking about vaccines with a wider variety of audi-
ences, said Bottazzi, who was born in Italy and grew up in Honduras.
She is interested in adapting some of those lessons “to the Latinx
communities, to make sure that it fits the people that I speak to, with
a focus on empowering and decoloniz-
ing some of this communication, so
that peers and colleagues and younger
generations in my countries of origin
get involved in doing these kinds of
communication.”
Each video shares some of the
personal background of the researcher,
which was a deliberate storytelling
choice by Orman. “I want to know about
the credentials they bring and why they
wanted to do this in the first place,”
he said. “I think it can legitimize these
voices as people who have depth and
experience in the field.”
Nikolich said speaking about her
own career journey in the video was
unusual for her but hopes it will help
her message resonate with audiences.
She received “across the board really
good feedback” about the video from her colleagues in academia and
the AI Village at DEF CON, a community of hackers and data scientists
who share information on the use and abuse of artificial intelligence in
security and privacy.
In early October, Nikolich received a grant from the National Science
Foundation (NSF) to build a game to teach senior citizens and middle
school students about AI misinformation, partnering with some of the
developers behind the wildly popular online game World of Warcraft. “I
know for a fact that NSF had watched the video,” she said.
One of the lessons Nikolich has learned about combating misinfor-
mation is that “it’s really hard in an immediate conversation to change
people’s minds because people are flooded with misinformation. All
you can do as a scientist is stick to the facts, try not to be emotional
and understand that people are swayed by social media.”
Orman would like to continue the series with a new group of experts
and topics next year. “I’ve been very grateful to the participants and the
AAAS colleagues who suggested these great voices,” he said. “It drives
home the incredible programs we have and the incredible people who
pass through them.”AAAS NEWS & NOTES
Vaccines, AI, and sexually transmitted infections among first topics
By Becky HamPeter Hotez (l) and Maria Elena Bottazzi regularly share
vaccine information with the public.