Leaving the lab and entering the debate

By Steven M. Altschuler

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia employs hundreds of researchers working to improve the lives of children. Often, it makes sense to extend their scientific findings beyond our patients and care providers by speaking out on public-health issues.

In the public exchange of ideas, scientists are not voicing just another set of opinions; theirs are backed by peer-reviewed evidence. The famous American physicist Richard Feynman is quoted as saying, "It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is; it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong."

Vaccine education

In one of our efforts to bring an evidence-based voice to public forums, we launched the Vaccine Education Center in 2000. The center seeks to spread accurate, up-to-date, scientific information about vaccines and the diseases they prevent to parents and health-care professionals. It provides a stream of accessible, bilingual information for parents and care providers - including fact sheets, booklets, and DVDs - about specific vaccines, how they work, and why public-health experts recommend them.

The center also offers regular updates and commentaries on vaccine-related news stories, often to counteract popular misconceptions about vaccine safety. Reporters often cite the center as a reliable source in news articles on the subject.

Dr. Paul A. Offit, who is the director of the vaccine center, the hospital's chief of infectious diseases, and a coinventor of the lifesaving rotavirus vaccine, is a tireless advocate for the benefits of vaccines. In addition to his scientific contributions, he has written five books and numerous articles on the topic, appeared on television and radio to discuss it, and spoken to groups of parents, clinicians, and media professionals about it.

Today, with the toll of infectious disease greatly reduced by vaccines, the leading cause of death among American children and adolescents is injury. As such, for more than a decade, CHOP's Center for Injury Research and Prevention has brought pediatricians, engineers, emergency-medicine specialists, and others together to advance the safety of children, adolescents, and young adults, focusing on motor-vehicle accidents.