This newsletter is my part of an ongoing conversation among colleagues who’ve had a rough week. I share two or three pieces of the puzzle that feel are most important, hazard a guess about what to expect next, and offer at least one useful thing to do.
Hi friends,
Our team had a call this afternoon to catch up on where we are, what we’re facing, and how we’re doing. We covered a lot of ground (some of it truly bananas) and I left smiling, carrying something Julie said with me. I started this whole series with the idea that it’s a marathon, not a sprint, but she reminded me, “It’s actually a relay race. You’re not in this alone.”
We are not alone. We don’t have to do everything ourselves or keep going forever. We are not starting from scratch. In our science and all the rest of our lives, we are the legacies of those who came before us. We might be refashioning their well-honed tools or building entirely new ones, but we know it works best when we work together.
Speaking of building new things, I’ll have more to share soon. For now I’ll just say that I’m inspired by my collaborators, and am particularly grateful for the batons I was able to pass off while I’ve been traveling. I’m ready for the next lap.
This was week 8. Let’s talk about it.
We all need to pay close attention as the disaster at Columbia continues to intensify. Shortly after I sent our last debrief, Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate who was a leader among pro-Palestinian campus protests, was swept up in an alarming arrest. He has not been charged with any crimes but now faces deportation. Since then, Department of Homeland Security agents searched two students’ rooms in university apartments and arrested a second Palestinian protestor. On Thursday, the university suspended, expelled, and revoked diplomas from other protestors. It also received a staggering list of demands for further action from the administration. I don’t know what they’ll do, but I’m glad to see past Columbia president Lee Bollinger say so plainly, “We’re in the midst of an authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government. It’s been coming and coming, and not everybody is prepared to read it that way.”
A deep breath is usually good. Have you had a moment for that lately? I’ll wait.
Okay. One concrete thing to do: protect yourself from measles. The disease is doing exactly what we expect and fear, which is bad now and for years to come. If you were born between 1957 and 1989, like me, our childhood vaccinations were less effective than the modern version. I was thinking about this because Katie Mack got her titers tested. I’m scheduled for my MMR booster on Monday. Join me!
And then talk about with your people.
Vaccination is a critical - and timely - science communication issue. Nothing saves more lives. We urgently need to get it right. Fortunately, there is an abundance of communication research and clinical practice to draw from. Take a quick look at how the CDC, WHO, and American Association of Pediatricians recommend talking about vaccines. Go deeper with focus-group findings. Finally, explore the COVID Vaccine Handbook - you’ll notice material specifically about MMR there. If you want to, dive deep into the research.
But don’t get lost in it. We’re imperfect people doing imperfect work. There’s no optimal phrase or magic word that will make hard conversations easier. But fortunately, this is one of those areas where a little effort on reading up can help us do a lot better. And so does that deep breath.
Keep it up,
Liz