Of Mice and Men: Making Sense of Health Science in the Media
Wednesday, 23 April 2014, 5:30 p.m.
Heart and Crown Irish Pub
353 B Preston Street, Ottawa
RSVP: ltarbett@ohri.ca - Space is limited.
This free event is presented by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, in collaboration with the Canadian Cochrane Centre.
Canadians are becoming increasingly interested in staying, or becoming, healthy and learning about the latest health trends and developments. The news media has been quick to cater to this interest by producing many reports on health and medical issues. One day you may read coffee is bad for your health; the next day you’ll hear the same cup of java reduces your risk of disease. Nearly nine out of 10 Canadians make decisions affecting their health as a direct result of media reports; however, these reports often contain skewed facts or conflicting data. The Canadian Cochrane Centre advocates for responsible reporting based on the totality of evidence. How does one sort through the complex world of research to make sound health decisions?
Join us for a public discussion as we speak to both media experts and health consumers about how to navigate health science news in the media.
Experts
 | Pauline Dakin National health/medical reporter, CBC News Host, Atlantic Voice |
Pauline Dakin is a national health reporter for CBC News, and host of the regional weekly documentary show Atlantic Voice. Her work has been recognized with many national and international awards. She has completed fellowships with the MIT-Knight Science Journalism program, the National Press Foundation in Washington, and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and is a former board member of the Canadian Science Writers Association. Pauline has worked as a producer, on-air host, assignment editor and reporter in various media including film, television, radio and print. Originally from North Vancouver, B.C., she has also lived in Manitoba, New Brunswick and is now lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia with her two daughters.
 | David Henry Professor, University of Toronto Senior Scientist, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences |
David Henry is a physician and professor of health systems data at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. He is senior scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto and until late 2013 held the position of CEO. His main research interests are in measuring the impacts of therapeutic drugs in communities and in analyzing media coverage of health news and health research. He is a member of the executive of the Canadian Network for Observational Drug Effect Studies (CNODES), a distributed network of provincial data centres that carries out drug safety analyses on behalf of Health Canada and other sponsors.
 | Anne Lyddiatt Consumer Advocate,The Cochrane Collaboration |
Anne Lyddiatt comes from a background in health care, but was unaware of The Cochrane Collaboration until about 12 years ago when a friend encouraged her to attend a Cochrane Canada Symposium. Over the next few years she learned more about the Collaboration and systematic reviews and began to volunteer as a health consumer. Anne found it both interesting and rewarding to contribute the consumer perspective on Cochrane Reviews and protocols and it gave her a much better knowledge of available treatments. This, in turn, has made a valuable contribution to her decisions when options for treatment/care are presented. Anne feels that The Cochrane Library is a trustworthy, easily accessible resource that everyone should know about and use.
Moderator
 | Kathryn O’Hara Associate Professor, Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication CTV Chair in Science Broadcast Journalism |
Kathryn O’Hara has been a faculty member in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University since 2001. She is the first person to hold the School’s CTV Chair in Science Broadcast Journalism, the first such chair of its kind in Anglophone Canada. A long-standing broadcast journalist, Professor O’Hara is the former consumer columnist with CBC’s Midday, a former co-anchor of CBC’s Newsday in Ottawa, and the former host of Later the Same Day, CBC Radio Toronto’s “drive-home” program. Her work has also appeared on CBC’s Quirks and Quarks and Ideas programs. Three years before coming to Carleton University, Professor O’Hara was an independent health and science producer for outlets such as RTE and CBC. She serves on the executive board of the World Federation of Science Journalists. She is an Associate Professor with the Carleton School of Journalism and Communication.
