Illustrating Cochrane evidence in a more gentle way: Interview with Jen Ma

We chatted withJen Ma ofGentle Facts about how art can help in communicating science and health evidence, the challenges involved, and her work to address these.Can you tell us a bit about yourself and background?My name is Jennifer Ma (I go by Jen). I am a researcher by training and did my PhD in the Stem CellBioengineering lab at the University of Toronto. I originally planned to stay in research and contribute toinnovations in healthcare, but gradually discovered the crucial role of science communication to bringthe existing body of knowledge to the public. Examples were all around me: friends were choosingalternative medicine over evidence-based treatments; unproven and dangerous “stem cell therapies”were masquerading as Regenerative Medicine and thriving; the anti-vax movement was gaining morefollowers by the day. I wanted to use my education, combined with my passion in visual arts, to fightmisinformation and promote engagement with science. I also hope to reach an audience that mighthave been missed by traditional science media and connect with them at a human level. After finishinggrad school, I am now focusing mostly on my science communication project Gentle Facts and lovingevery minute of it!And how did Gentle Facts get started? Can you explain the focus?I was finishing up my PhD thesis during the pandemic. It was a very stressful time so, to stay sane, I shielded myself from all other stressors from the outside world, including the constant bombardment of info...
Source: Cochrane News and Events - Category: Information Technology Authors: Source Type: news