How Science Lost America and How To Get it Back

Science AAAS Journals and GW's Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics, Bright Institute and Digital Trade & Data Governance Hub invite you to join them for How Science Lost America and How to Get It Back, a conversation with the Editor-in-Chief of Science Journals' Holden Thorp.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed very quickly to scientists that the public seems to effortlessly pick and choose what parts of emerging science to act on and what parts to ignore. Many scientists have been mystified by this behavior, but historians and communications have been researching and discussing these problems for decades.

Dr. Thorp will discuss how COVID-19 denial, climate denial, and many other policy issues follow a pattern that extends back over a century. He will also discuss solutions to successfully contextualize new developments in science for the public.

Dr. Thorp is Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals. He earned a doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Thorp is the Rita Levi-Montalcini Distinguished University Professor at Washington University and holds appointments in both chemistry andmedicine. In his research career, he studied electron-transfer reactions of nucleic acids,developed technology for electronic DNA chips, and cofounded ViametPharmaceuticals, which developed oteseconazole, now held by MycoviaPharmaceuticals and in phase 3 clinical trials. He is a venture partner at Hatteras Venture Partners, a consultant to Ancora, and is on the board of directors of the College Advising Corps and Artizan Biosciences.