Beyond Blastocysts: 'Simple Stories' and Stem Cell Research Funding

The California stem cell agency this week had some useful advice for telling the stem cell story, be it in Keokuk, Ia., or La Jolla, Ca. 

It is not necessarily just a matter of petri dishes and blastocysts.  It is a matter of "simple stories that illustrate what you did and who it helped or might help."

The advice came from Kevin McCormack, senior director of communications for the California stem cell agency, in an item on the agency's blog, The Stem Cellar. 

The piece grew out of a panel at the meeting this week of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in Los Angeles. McCormack began by briefly recounting the experiences of researchers who carried their pitches into legislative and Congressional arenas.

Those are places where the money is -- the lifeblood of scientific research. 

Money, incidentally, is of particular interest at California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), as the $3 billion agency is formally known. On Monday it will shut down applications for new awards because in a few months it expects to run out of cash for them. 

Here is a little of what McCormack had to say concerning communication and scientific research, drawing from the ISSCR panel.

"(P)resenters talked about their struggles with different issues and different audiences but similar experiences; how do you communicate clearly and effectively. The answer is actually pretty simple. You talk to people in a way they understand with language they understand. Not with dense scientific jargon. Not with reams of data. Just by telling simple stories that illustrate what you did and who it helped or might help.

"The power of ISSCR is that it can bring together a roomful of brilliant scientists from all over the world who want to learn about these things, who want to be better communicators. They know that much of the money for scientific research comes from governments or state agencies, that this is public money, and that if the public is going to continue to support this research it needs to know how that money is being spent.

"That’s a message CIRM has been promoting for years. We know that communicating with the public is not an option, it’s a responsibility. That’s why, at a time when the very notion of science sometimes seems to be under attack, and the idea of public funding for that science is certainly under threat, having meetings like this that brings researchers together and gives them access to new tools is vital. The tools they can 'get' at ISSCR are ones they might never learn in the lab, but they are tools that might just mean they get the money needed to do the work they want to."

Readership Numbers for the Stem Cellar, the official blog of California's Stem Cell Agency

Here are some readership figures for the Stem Cellar, the official blog of the California stem cell agency, known formally as the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

The numbers and text were provided by the agency and come from Kevin McCormack, senior director of communications.

"We only have stats from May 2014 because that is the date when this blog was switched to Wordpress (that’s also the reason why the viewing figures for May were so low, it took people a while to find the new site). The blog started in 2007 on a site called blogspot." 

Data from 2015:

Home page views: 34,871

Top blog reads: 2,336

Best ever views: Sept 2^nd 2015 with 1,454 views

From May 2014-Dec 2015

Views went from 60  to ~13,000

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Total
2014					60	1,715	6,019	7,274	5,807	8,448	11,420	9,592	50,335
2015	11,045	8,664	10,383	7,520	9,326	10,344	8,303	10,010	13,230	13,634	13,391	12,145	127,995

Average per Day

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Overall
2014					2	57	194	235	194	273	381	309	209
2015	356	309	335	251	301	345	268	323	441	440	446	429	353

Referrers (in order of top views)

1)    Search Engines (google, bing, yahoo)

2)    Facebook

3)    Twitter

Total # Posts: 1,555

Total followers: 485 (115 on wordpress and 370 on email subscription)

(Editor's note: This item was belatedly added in September 2016 because of publishing error in January 2016, when it should have been posted by yours truly.)

The Sagan Effect and Public Support for Research

The media chief at the $3 billion California stem cell agency yesterday put together a first-rate piece that invoked Meryl Streep, Carl Sagan and Lindsay Lohan and said that scientists can learn something from them.  

The item by Kevin McCormack, senior director of communications for the stem cell agency, dealt with telling the story of the facts and the romance of science. Not to be too crass about it, but his item piece also dealt with generating the public enthusiasm that will lead to more cash for researchers’ labs. Maybe even do some public good.

McCormack, who has labored both in public relations and in the grimy trenches of journalism, wrote about the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference last week in San Jose on science communications. The session explored ways to get the public to both understand and care more about science and technology and to get scientists to do a better job of explaining both to them.

A number of problems have plagued science communications for decades. One is that science is sometimes difficult for the general public and reporters to understand. It is also difficult to find researchers who can “speak English” – explain what they are doing and why it is important in ways that resonate with the media and their readers and viewers.

Another problem is that sometimes scientists who are good at explaining are dismissed by their colleagues as less than professional or as not really good scientists.

One rendering of invidia at work

McCormack said there is a risk. He wrote,

“Some scientists reported facing a backlash from colleagues who felt they were trying to hog the limelight. They fell victim to what is called the ‘Carl Sagan’ effect, which holds that if someone is spending that much time and effort communicating science to the public they must not be a very good scientist to start with.” 

From what I have seen over the last decade of watching the stem cell agency, such a reaction also often seems a case of invidia at work. Seeing another researcher’s name in print can trigger a serious case of irritation.

McCormack quoted Stanford’s Noah Diffenbaugh on reasons for taking his science to the public.

“I feel it is my responsibility to answer questions from the public when asked, because my research group is publicly funded by taxpayer dollars through agencies like the NSF. And as a public citizen I feel responsible that if we are having a public dialogue about climate change that I should be part of that dialogue.” 

McCormack’s piece on the stem cell agency’s blog, The Stem Cellar, is a good reminder that the science community cannot take for granted public support for science and research funding. Most people are heavily focused on other matters that they believe are more relevant to their lives, such as their jobs and getting their children off to school.

It is up to researchers to make building support and educating the public and the media about the benefits of their efforts a regular part of their profession. Perhaps the stem cell agency could even encourage it by adding a communications component to their awards.

As for Meryl Streep and Lindsay Lohan, it is best to go directly to McCormack’s piece to see how their communication works. It could be inspirational.

Tweeting the Elusive Stem Cell: A Canadian Study

Julie Robillard, CIRM photo

Twitter used to mean chirping. The word conjured up images of sparrows fluttering and warbling under the eaves. Today, it more likely evokes images of lightning-like communications and billion-dollar businesses.

Twitter – the non-chirping variety -- drew attention this week from Kevin McCormack, the majordomo of communications at California’s $3 billion stem cell agency. His job is to tell the story of the agency and build public support.

McCormack was at the annual meeting of the International Society for Stem Cell Research in Vancouver in Canada where he ran across Julie Robillard, a neuroscientist who is looking into how social media – blogging, Twitter, etc. – are shaping how science is communicated.

Robillard, who writes a blog on neuroscience, had a poster presentation at the meeting dealing with the public policy implications of the use of social media related to stem cell research.  McCormack discussed her work yesterday on the stem cell agency’s blog.

“She says this is clear evidence there is worldwide interest in stem cell research. The problem, however, is that the quality of many of the tweets was also widely varied. Some came from researchers and were thoughtful and trying to raise awareness about new research or important questions, but others—many others—were more interested in promoting stem cells as cures for everything from sagging skin or acne to severed spinal cords.”

“She says social media is reshaping how conversations take place between people who are interested in stem cells: anyone from a scientist to a patient to a provider of sham therapies. She says there is a lot of information out there about stem cells but the quality is not always great and in some cases it’s downright questionable.”

McCormack continued,

“News reports, stories in newspapers, on the radio and TV or online are the single biggest drivers of traffic on Twitter and are a reminder of the importance of good journalism when covering these issues. A poorly written or researched story that makes inflated claims about a treatment, or fails to mention that the research was done in mice not people, can get huge play on social media and mislead many people. This is a little worrying when fewer and fewer mainstream media outlets have a dedicated science journalist on staff.”

McCormack concluded,

 “She also says it’s a reminder to those of us trying to inform the public about all the progress being made with stem cell research that we need to be more engaged and more active, so that our voices can help drown out those with bad information or shoddy products to sell.”

Cyberspace Makeover at California Stem Cell Agency

California's $3 billion stem cell agency has performed a well-done makeover on its most important public face – its web site, which is chock-a-block full of useful information for researchers and the unwashed alike.

At cirm.ca.gov, one can find the very words of its directors as they wrestle with everything from grant approvals to conflicts of interest. Scientists can be seen telling the story of their accomplishments. Money can be followed, and summaries of reviews of grant applications read, both those approved and those that did not pass muster.

The web site of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (the formal name of the agency) is the place where the stem cell program really meets the public. News stories are important, but infrequent. Day to day, however, thousands of interested persons seek out information that the folks at CIRM HQ, just a long throw from the San Francisco Giants ballpark, bring to cyberspace.

Each month, said Amy Adams, major domo of the web site, 15,000 to 17,000 “unique viewers” visit online. She told the California Stem Cell Report in an email,

“We're up about 25 percent year over year in unique viewers to the site. A lot of that growth comes from search, and the rest is from traffic driven through our blog and Facebook.” 

The numbers are not huge compared to those chalked up by major media sites. But they are significant given that there are only a few thousand people worldwide who are deeply and regularly interested in stem cell research. Many more, however, are stimulated to look into the subject from time to time, either because of news stories, personal, disease-related concerns or simple interest in cutting edge science. Engaging those readers, who can spread the CIRM story, and winning their approval is critical for the agency as it faces the need to raise more millions as it money runs out in the next few years.

CIRM has mounted much information online over its short life. So much that good tools are needed to navigate the site. Decisions about what should go on the home page are critical. With the makeover, the agency now has a long-needed, home-page link to its meetings , especially those of its governing board, which are the single most important events at the agency.

The redesign is crisp and clean. The new, white background makes it easier to read and is comfortable for readers long conditioned to the black-on-white print of the books, newspapers and magazines. The video image on the home page is larger, which helps attract viewers. The site has long had a carload of videos, some of which contain powerful and emotional stories from patients.

Adams used CIRM staffers to test the new features. She reported,

“I've had people inside CIRM (who have been beta testing this site) tell me that they are finding content they'd never seen before because the site is so much easier to navigate.”

Adams and the CIRM communications team also have pulled together important information on each grant on a single page, including progress reports. You can find a sample here on a $1 million grant to Stanford's Helen Blau.

Adams said,

 “Now people can not only read about what our grantees are hoping to accomplish, they can read about what has actually been accomplished with our funding.”

Adams said another new feature is downloadable spread sheets of information that can be manipulated by readers offline. She said,

“Most places on the site where you see tables, you can now download those tables to Excel. You'll notice the small Excel icon at the lower left of the table. This feature has long been available for the searchable grants table. Now you'll see it on all the tables of review reports (see here for example http://www.cirm.ca.gov/application-reviews/10877) on the disease fact sheets (see here http://www.cirm.ca.gov/about-stem-cells/alzheimers-disease-fact-sheet) and other places throughout the site. This is part of an effort to make our funding records more publicly available.”

CIRM's search engine for its web site still needs work. A search using the term “CIRM budget 2012-2013” did not produce a budget document on the first two pages of the search results. A search on the term “Proposition 71,” the ballot initiative that created CIRM, did not provide a direct link to its text on the first two pages of search results.

Also missing from the web site, as far as I can tell, is a list of the persons who appointed the past and present board members as well as the dates of the board members' terms of office. The biographies on some of the 29 governing board members come up short. In the case of Susan Bryant, her bio does not mention that she is interim executive vice chancellor and provost at UC Irvine. Links also could be added to board members statements of economic interest. A list of CIRM staff members (only slightly more than 50 persons) and their titles could be added.

As for CIRM's count of visitors, CIRM uses Google Analytics tools. Adams said,

“A unique visitor is Google's definition (it's one of the metrics they provide). It's a visit from a unique IP (internet protocol) address. So, if you visit our site multiple times from one IP address during a day, you count as a single unique visitor. (Editor's note: It is possible to have more than one visitor from the same IP address.)

“We get ~23,000-25,000 visits per month, or ~16,000-18,000 unique visitors. Page views are on the order of 65,000 a month.”

Our take: The redesign of the web site is a worthy effort and enhances CIRM's relationships with all those who come looking for information. The agency is to be commended and should continue its work to improve the site and its connections with the public.

Communications Subcommittee Meeting Delayed

The California stem cell agency yesterday postponed the first meeting of the directors new subcommittee aimed at improving communications with the public.

CIRM Chairman Robert Klein cancelled the session for personal reasons, the agency said. The session has not yet been rescheduled.

CalAware: CIRM Not Serious About Transparency

CalAware Today, a blog devoted to open government, has picked up an item about the California stem cell agency that CalAware says shows that CIRM “still hasn't learned to take governmental transparency seriously.”

CalAware made the comment on a piece Nov. 17 on the California Stem Cell Report, which said the stem cell agency “has had difficulty even complying with the basic state public records law and the state Constitution's public access guarantees.”

Terry Francke produces the CalAware blog from Sacramento. He was general counsel for 14 years for the California First Amendment Coalition and served for 10 years as legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association. Francke founded Californians Aware in 2004.

Science vs. Salaries: What Do People Talk About?

The $225,000 salary now enjoyed by Art Torres, co-vice chairman of the California stem cell agency, made the news again today.

This time it was in the San Francisco Chronicle, in a column by Philip Matier and Andrew Ross. The piece provides an example of the staying power of such relatively minor matters compared to the size of California's fiscal problems and CIRM's $3 billion research effort. The column also illustrates the difficult task facing CIRM's new communications push by its directors.

Torres' salary was brought up in connection with those of state and local government officials. Matier and Ross pointed out that San Francisco city officials are paid more than a number of state officials who have greater responsibilities, including the governor, state treasurer and attorney general.

“On the other hand,” they pointed to Torres' salary, noting that he received a $150,000 boost last week from his previous half-time position.

Matier and Ross quoted Torres as saying,

"I'm saving the taxpayers $50,000 a year by not taking my (state legislative) pension or having my health benefits paid by the agency."

Since the beginning of this year, the San Francisco Chronicle, CIRM's “hometown” newspaper, has carried five stories dealing primarily with CIRM, based on a search on its site using the term “stem cell agency.” One of the five deals with a conflict of interest problem involving a member of the CIRM board of directors. The Torres story does not come up in the search, but with it, two out of six Chronicle stories this year with a heavy CIRM component carry a negative spin on CIRM.

One cannot draw the conclusion that a similar balance exists at other newspapers. But it does confirm that coverage of CIRM has been very light in the Chronicle. That pattern is true around the state, based on our daily searches throughout the year. That means that positive messages can easily be overwhelmed in impact and staying power by negative ones. One rule of thumb in such cases that it takes 10 positive stories to neutralize one negative piece.

The question is: What do people talk about? They don't talk about arcane research results. They don't talk about CIRM collaborating with the state of Maryland. They talk about $150,000 pay raises for state officials.

Something for CIRM directors to consider as they begin their work with the new communications subcommittee.