Against a backdrop of national anguish over the death of George Floyd in police custody and a global coronavirus pandemic that by then had claimed more than 116,000 American lives, the 120th meeting of the advisory committee to the NIH director (ACD) held its first-ever virtual meeting June 11-12.
The Covid-19 pandemic was already well underway globally. NIMHD’s Dr. Nadra Tyus, a commander in the PHS Commissioned Corps, was hardly surprised when she was asked to deploy. She literally jumped into gear.
There’s more to communicating scientific information to the public than translating complex information into plain language. Scientists must also think about what goals and objectives they want to achieve when they communicate, said Dr. John Besley during a recent OBSSR Director’s Webinar.
Dr. Joseph Chinquee suggested to his colleague, nurse Lola Saidkhodjaeva, that they sign up as volunteers to support HHS missions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Within hours, they were deployed to assist the Public Health Service in the Navajo Nation in New Mexico.