Getting the Word Out

In the Nov. 23 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, there is an article co-written by Harvard associate professor of pathology Ulrich von Andrian entitled "A transgenic mouse model to analyze CD8+ effector T cell differentiation in vivo."

To a specialist in immunology, this is heart-pounding stuff, but it probably means little to anybody else. Here enters the Harvard Medical School (HMS) Office of Public Affairs.

One day before the article was released, the office sent out a press release: "License to Kill: Development of Killer T Cells Observable." It explains how this discovery could help doctors understand how HIV and cancer attack the immune system

Harvard's medical and public health faculties daily churn out some groundbreaking research that even scientific journalists can't make heads or tails of without help. So their press liaisons have a harder job than most--they have to interpret in order to inform.

"We provide the first translation of science into lay language," says Donald L. Gibbons, HMS Director of Public Affairs. "It is important that people have a lay language version that is correct."

Putting Out the Word

The HMS Office of Public Affairs is a 10-employee operation located in the basement of Building A on HMS' Longwood Campus in Boston.

Most press releases issued by the office are explanations, or self-described translations, of significant research coming out from HMS. The HMS Office of Public Affairs issued 33 press releases in the last year.

For example, in the last weeks the HMS office has sent out releases about racial disparities among kidney donation recipients, triggers for Alzheimer's Disease and the cellular mechanisms that pry apart DNA.

Medical school research is usually published in a medical journal, whose editors first put the publication through a process of peer review--scrutiny by other doctors to look for problems with methodology or conclusions.

The HMS Office of Public Affairs only sends out releases when research is about to be published in a journal.

"By the nature of how medicine is covered in the press, it is so journal driven that there is an expectation that press releases will be issued," Gibbons says.

Because it has no peer-review mechanism, the office never releases any information on its own.

"We don't want to put ourselves in the position of a peer reviewer," Gibbons says.

However, the office does not attempt to issue press releases about all publications by HMS faculty. Gibbons says there must be some anticipated interest by science writers or the general public before a press release is issued.

"[Through our press releases] our goal is to increase public knowledge and understanding of science," Gibbons says. "We want the public to appreciate the goals and directions of science."

A 'Public' Mission

This job is a bit easier in the press offices of HMS' Longwood campus neighbor, the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Dealing with issues like drinking, smoking and diet, HSPH research leaps much easier into headlines.

The HSPH Office of Communications is a much smaller operation than its counterpart at HMS, with only four employees, but it is a more central part of the school's mission. The office usually issues four to five press releases a month.

Part of any successful HSPH research is that the public finds out about it. So a larger part of the mission of the HSPH, as defined by Dean Barry R. Bloom, is carried out by the Office of Communications.

Accordingly, HSPH sends out about same number of press releases as HMS, despite having one-ninth the faculty.

"We have to let a lot of people know about [findings made here] to change public health," said Robin C. Herman, director of communications at HSPH. "It doesn't work just to have doctors or scientist know."

Instead of focusing on the specifics of how cancer spreads or AIDS affects the body, HSPH research looks at medicine across population, determining which groups are more susceptible to different problems.

And so HSPH's news releases often deal directly with ways in which people can stay healthy--far easier for the average newspaper reader to understand than the growth of T cells in mice.

"There is a vast interest in public health," Herman said. "It is a very personal subject and something people understand immediately."

Herman said that the office has stepped up efforts to communicate through its Web site, www.hsph.harvard.edu.

For instance, the Office of Communications recently added a section to the HSPH Web site with background information on trans-fatty acids, a currently major topic in the debate on nutrition.

Walter C. Willett, Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition has long called attention to the risk from this harmful ingredient.

Part of the job for both offices is directing traffic--reporters are constantly calling them, needing an expert to comment in a particular field.

As the presidential campaign heats up--with healthcare reform a central issue--the HSPH Office of Communications expects its load of such calls to increase.

In-House Communication

While its role as a translation service of medicine to the public through the media is a significant one, according to Gibbons it is only a small part of HMS office's work. The office's chief role, according to him, is to produce internal communication for the school.

This role is critical, according to Gibbons because of the large size of HMS--the school has over 6,000 faculty and affiliates spread out over 17 affiliated institutions throughout the Boston area.

In order to keep the entire institution at least somewhat aware of what is going on in its various branches, Gibbons says, the office puts out a bi-weekly newsmagazine.

This magazine usually includes more scientific jargon than press releases, since it is designed mainly for an audience of doctors. The HSPH office puts out a similar two-page weekly newsletter.

Meeting the Press

Among Harvard's graduate schools, the medical school's public affairs office is by far the largest. Scientific research is much more likely to produce a tangible "discovery" than a Law Review article, which makes it worthwhile to send out press releases, officials say.

The Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE) has one media relations officer, a position established at the school only within the last two years.

According to Christine Sanni, the GSE media relations officer, she puts out press releases very infrequently, about once a month.

Instead of publicizing individual events, her position is much more proactive, attempting to influence the way education issues are covered in the news.

The Harvard Law School's (HLS) media office also is a one-person operation. HLS News Director Michael J. Chmura said that the nature of legal research and publication is such that he does not issue press releases on new faculty work, as there is almost never general public or media interest in it.

Chmura said that at times he tries to take a proactive approach towards the media as well, letting them know Harvard has law experts in subjects currently appearing in the news.

The Competition

The Duke University Medical Center (DUMC) News Office contains a staff of nine employees. Their office issues significantly more media releases than HMS does, issuing 43 in just October and November of this year.

S. Renee Twombly, Acting director of the DUMC news office, says that each writer in their news office staff is assigned to certain areas of medicine to cover and "beat the bushes" trying to find new research coming out

Twombly said her office initiates most of its work with the media--reporters don't just call her office for information.

One difference between HMS and medical schools at many other universities is that Harvard does not own or control its own hospital, unlike Duke, Chicago, or Stanford, for example. Instead, HMS faculty is affiliated with separate hospitals.

Each of HMS's affiliated hospitals also have their own press offices. This means that often releases about HMS faculty research will be issued by their affiliated hospital instead of HMS. Additionally, the HMS Office of Public Affairs will often issue joint press releases with the affiliated institutions.

Gibbons said he felt that it made no difference to media coverage if a press release comes from HMS or from an affiliated hospital, since both are non-profit institutions.

Often Gibbons said his office acts as a triage unit, sending media requests to the right institution.