Storytelling and Science: Interview with Dr. Katie Moisse on Science Communication in Healthcare

Professor profile: https://experts.mcmaster.ca/people/moissek

Information: Dr. Katie Moisse is an Associate Professor at McMaster University who has conducted her PhD on neurodegenerative diseases such as ASL. Currently, she works in the field of science communication, an interdisciplinary field aiming to make science more clear and concise. She also teaches various courses at McMaster University related to the field. 

Q: How did you get involved with Science Communication, from your previous research on healthcare?

A:  I always really enjoyed talking to other people about science or writing about science, whether it was in academic circles, but I think more often outside of those circles. So [I was] meeting people interested in the research, wanting to learn more about it, but who may not have a background in that area. I realized I really enjoyed this, and started to think about how I could make that a bigger part of my job. It's always part of the job in science, but with a more significant focus [in science communication]. And so there are lots of different jobs in science communication, and I suppose I was drawn to journalism because in journalism, you have a lot of freedom to pursue stories and tell stories in the way you feel they need to be told. And you're accountable, really, only to your audience. 

Q:  What is the favourite story you’ve investigated, related to healthcare? 

A:

That's a great question. One that I'll always remember is a short little story for Scientific American, about a study on wound healing. They found this gene, if mutated in mice, caused near-perfect wound healing abilities, and the paper was published in PNAS. Reading the paper, one would think they had these predictions, and everything proceeded as planned, but what really happened is they were studying something totally different. They were studying lupus using a mouse model they suspected had a particular mutation.

And it turned out, the mice had a spontaneous mutation in that strain causing this wound healing. So this was totally unexpected. All because when the graduate student was genotyping the mice, she observed there were no notches or cuts for samples on the mice ears as a result of the genotyping. It was a complete fluke and then grew into this amazing, DARPA-funded line of research. I love stories like that.

Q: What’s your favourite part about Science Communication?

I love how everybody loves the story. It’s such a natural way of sharing information. This is how we connect with each other and science should be no different. And sometimes, the nature of the story really varies depending on the science. There's a lot of heart and a lot of stories about health and medicine. I think we're very naturally drawn to them because we can relate to those feelings: of experiencing sickness, joy, or despair.

There’s amazing stories in science about discovery, wonder, or really amazing controversies. There's a lot of drama in science, actually, and even that can be a way in for these mysteries. There are all kinds of stories in science, and when we write a paper, we make it sound like we knew exactly what the results would be, as if they followed a plan. But science is full of surprises which we leave out of the paper: It's fun to be able to share those stories. 

Q: Where do you see the importance of science communication in the next 20 or 30 years? 

A:

It's a great question. It’s becoming more important to have answers about what needs to happen. So, I'm excited that science communication is a growing area of research. We should be asking these questions like we ask any question in science, right? We make evidence-based decisions about how we access information: It’s changing so rapidly. And so, our responsibility is to take every step as scientists to make sure what we publish is as clear as possible, and as protected as possible from misunderstanding. So, this means putting out a lay summary or putting out lists of FAQs, which guide people on what they can and can't infer from their study. 

Let’s do everything we can to preempt the misuse and misrepresentation of science. We definitely need to meet people where they are. As scientists, but also as human beings: to really dismantle this power imbalance due to our expertise. That means having real, authentic conversations about science and being open to those challenging conversations, as well.

Thank you so much, Dr. Moisse! To learn more about this incredible field, please visit the Science Communication website, as followed: https://sis.mcmaster.ca/research/science-communication/