At the FDA, almost 600 staff learn science communication from Dr. Raven Baxter and Maynard Okereke

Dr. Raven Baxter taught science communication to almost 600 staff of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on January 25, 2024. She co-presented the virtual webinar "Lunch and Learn: Bridging the Gap Between Science and the Public" with Maynard Okereke, founder of Hip Hop Science.

The FDA's Office of the Chief Scientist ran the session for agency staff. The audience included subject matter experts in science and in law. Baxter and Okereke shared tips for explaining science to the public.

The webinar came three weeks after two of the agency's top officials called for plainer science. In JAMA on January 5, Commissioner Robert Califf and Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, wrote about vaccine misinformation. They urged readers to "dilute it with large amounts of truthful, accessible scientific evidence."

Public trust in scientists had also fallen. In November 2023, Pew Research Center found that 73% of U.S. adults had at least a fair amount of confidence in scientists. That was 14 points lower than early in the pandemic. The same month, the CDC reported that 3.0% of kindergartners had an exemption from a required vaccine in the 2022-23 school year. It was the highest rate ever reported.

The FDA calls itself "the oldest comprehensive consumer protection agency in the U. S. federal government." Its modern regulatory work began with the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act, and it took its current name in 1930. Its mission includes "helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medical products and foods to maintain and improve their health."

The Office of the Chief Scientist sits in the Office of the Commissioner. It leads science programs across the agency and runs a network of laboratories.

The session fell between two projects with the Reagan-Udall Foundation for the FDA, an independent nonprofit created by Congress. In October 2023, Baxter urged a foundation panel to favor two-way communication with the public. She went on to write Science of Immunity, a free middle school vaccine curriculum the foundation backed.

Baxter, a molecular biologist, has worked in science communication since 2016. Her Ph.D. from the University at Buffalo focused on science communication research.

The webinar was an internal staff event, and no public recording was released. The Office of the Chief Scientist describes its work on the FDA website.