The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications

I am a scientist and really stumbled into scientific communication at the beginning of the pandemic. I never had training in it, I just loved teaching and thought I could help people process the firehose of information. I started writing an email ‘translating’ what I was seeing, as an epidemiologist, during the pandemic to faculty, staff, and students. This transpired into a social media page and newsletter and the rest is history.

I think people needed a voice, a face, someone who cared to help navigate through the impossible landscape. There is still an onslaught of misinformation, so fighting rumors was also a key strategy.

As scientists, we are not trained in scientific communication to the community. We are only trained on how to speak to other scientists. Scientists have a very difficult time ‘speaking in English.’ To me, this was one of the biggest problems of the pandemic. And we need to fix this as soon as possible.

I am deeply honored and humbled [by this award]. I gave my heart and soul to [my newsletter] and it makes the blood, sweat, and tears from the past 31 months all that more worth it. But it also feels a bit odd, as science and communication are, by definition, a team effort. We could not get out of this pandemic without an all-hands-on-deck response and I am honored to have been trusted to play a small role.

[Looking ahead] I’m super curious if I can sustain interest in public health beyond a pandemic. Public health touches on our lives every day, I just don’t think people realize it.

I think there is no belaboring the point that science is at the very core of every facet of our existence. Yet the complexities of science make it hard for people particularly those in the developing world to appreciate it. So since my journalism school days, I have always thought about the prospect of using my journalistic work to demystify science to engender sustainable development especially in Africa.

I submitted 6 stories for this award and 4 out of the 6 were stories on global health inequities which I feel are the greatest injustices of our time. Why should people, by virtue of their geographical locations lack access to life-saving medications? It is completely unacceptable that in this time and age, having access to life-saving medicines continues to be the preserve of the West!

Take for instance Africa, where I come from, the continent carries 25% of the world’s disease burden yet its share of the global health expenditure is less than 1%. Worse still, the region manufactures only a fraction—less than 2%—of the medicines consumed on the continent. Meanwhile international solidarity to a very large extent, can change the narrative on this. Because like the UNAIDS boss said last year, we are not just interconnected, we are inseparable. We cannot end AIDS or COVID-19 in one country or one continent, we can only end AIDS or COVID-19 everywhere.

Currently, misinformation and disinformation threaten to erode all the gains we have made in the area of health and science. Therefore making sure there is credible, accurate, balanced and undiluted information to counter the disinformation and misinformation out there is very crucial and non-negotiable. So, for now, that is what journalism means to me, day and night.

First and foremost, I think Schmidt Futures should be very proud of this [initiative]. It is one whose returns will benefit even the poor farmer in my village grappling with climate change.

And for me as a winner, this recognition is a big deal! It will not only help my current and future projects but it will also greatly transform my career. It is a stamp of quality – once you win it, it gives you this aura of credibility. People want to engage you because you’ve received this award. But at the same time, it challenges you to explore new territories and uncharted waters.