Dr. Jessica Steier is the founder and CEO of Unbiased Science. She and her company are best known for the Unbiased Science podcast, though the surrounding social media platform has an even broader reach – serving more than half a million followers worldwide. There is also a newsletter, and a non-profit sister organization, The Science Literacy Lab, which finds creative ways to support scientific literacy, particularly in hard-to-reach communities. Sitting across the top of these brands is the parent company, Vital Statistics Consulting, a health science data powerhouse.
An accomplished public health expert specializing in science communication, Dr. Jessica Steier is committed to providing audiences – in particular the general public – with accurate, unbiased, and methodologically sound information. Throughout a career that has straddled both the private sector and academia, Dr. Steier has honed her dedication both to rigorous scientific inquiry and to bettering the health and welfare of communities.
Holding a Doctorate (DrPH) in Public Health with a concentration in Health Policy and Management from the CUNY Graduate Center, Dr. Steier has served as an assistant professor and research coordinator at Hofstra University and held field positions with the Lewin Group (as a senior health policy consultant), the Nassau County Department of Health (as a research consultant), and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (as a tobacco policy researcher).
Not yet 40, Dr. Steier continues to dedicate herself to public health and the active dissemination of accurate data to subject-matter experts and scientific knowledge to the general public. Her track record to date is impressive and worthy of great personal pride.
The Coronavirus/Covid-19 pandemic forever changed the way people consume science and health information. By March 2020, entire populations were hungry for data, for the latest insights into what was going on and what it all meant. The media, keen to satisfy that appetite, became the real-time outlet for this information. Yet much of this information was now reaching its audience without the usual pre-print filters (e.g., peer reviews) and without proper context. Although the pandemic was eventually brought under control, the plague of disinformation was not. It is Dr. Jessica Steier’s mission to tackle this problem head on.
“Today the public feels it has a direct line to science,” she says. “And, while it’s a good thing that people are curious, and want to know more about the factors that affect their health and what to do about them, there still needs to be evidence-based rigor around the information that is put out there, and this needs to be put into context.”
People need to know the source of the information—the supporting evidence, for instance—and what is still unknown.
“This is as much about acknowledging uncertainty,” Dr. Steier notes. “Things are rarely black and white; there is generally a lot more nuance, and knowledge evolves as we collect more data. It’s important to be transparent about that; to be clear that ‘this is our best understanding at this point’.”
Approaches here include looking for consensus across the latest body of available evidence; evidence from those who are properly trained in the field.
Just as the field of health science is continuously evolving, so too is data science. As long as the technology is applied with careful controls to ensure its credibility, accuracy and ethical use, Dr. Steier is excited by the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to advance health analytics using real-time data so that it becomes more predictive and preventative – enabling earlier interventions, transforming population health management, and monitoring diseases in the moment. Step changes in progress will come when a wider range of data is being triangulated – so that conclusions are not retrospective, nor over-reliant on medical insurance claims data, for instance.
Averting alarm: getting ahead of health disinformation
In a world of disinformation, Dr. Steier believes AI technology has an equally important role to play in anticipating and averting public concerns before these are aired and fanned online – via targeted interventions, crafted and distributed through the most effective vehicles for the given audience.
“We call this ‘pre-bunking’, as opposed to debunking,” she explains. “My training as a data scientist comes into play, here. It helps me assess the emerging trends, determine what people are skeptical about, and where any information gaps exist. At Unbiased Science, we’re also able to leverage our social media channels to ask people what they’re concerned about.”
Gauging evolving themes in this way, Dr. Steier and her colleagues can then advise clients on early interventions.
These might combine a powerful infographic on Instagram; a short video on Facebook, YouTube or TikTok; a podcast featuring expert discussion; and longer-form content posted online or circulated by newsletter – depending on the target cohort groups, she explains.
“Harnessing the full range of channels is about the democratization of scientific data through the use of very user-friendly visualization tools and other devices to fulfill the public appetite for the latest insights,” Dr. Steier notes.
Making a (quantifiable) Difference
The work she does really matters. Unbiased Science has helped the University of Mississippi Medical Center estimate and communicate the impact of a program facilitating mental health access for children and young mothers, for the benefit of payers and policymakers. Dr. Steier’s team helped quantify the program’s value in the millions of dollars saved in emergency care, as well as improvements to those populations’ wellbeing. Its models calculated how many infant deaths; and cases of neonatal-assisted ventilation, or of placental abruption cases, and so on, could be avoided with greater access to the state’s Child Access to Mental Health and Psychiatry (CHAMP) program. One of the headline findings was that prevention of 548 pre-term births annually, via timely intervention with Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMAD), could save $19 million in healthcare costs.
Similar work succeeded in changing many thousands of minds about getting the flu vaccine. In a project for flu vaccine maker CSL Seqirus, supported by an educational grant, Unbiased Science pinpointed two cohorts that were particularly prone to vaccine hesitancy, and addressed their identified concerns. A targeted education campaign, which combined infographics, videos, podcasts and other modalities, reached 1.3 million individuals. More than 11,000 vaccine hesitant individuals changed their mind and ultimately decided to receive a flu vaccine – a turnaround they attributed directly to the Unbiased Science campaign.
Making Accurate Science Consumable
Straddling the worlds of health science and health communications, as Dr. Steier has done so successfully, is no mean feat. “Historically, the two areas – rigorous scientific research and the real-world application of its findings – are very siloed,” she says. “But the disciplines are very connected – or they should be, though scientists are not taught in communications; they pick up what they know as they go. I think of myself as bridging that gap – between academic science, and the science of data and communication.”
One of Dr. Steier’s honed skills is breaking down complex topics, without oversimplifying them. “The challenge is making these subjects digestible,” she explains. “Popular devices she uses include clear analogies, real-world examples, and breaking down weightier topics across a series of podcast episodes.” But substance and nuance are never compromised.
When Unbiased Science is preparing a podcast, Dr. Steier and her team engage in many hours of preparation – scanning through all of the available literature, critically appraising the best evidence and what it points to, and bringing in relevant expertise if the topic ranges into clinical medicine, biomedical science, or another specialist field. “If we lack the expertise ourselves, we bring it in,” she says. “And everything is properly attributed; there are always companion notes and links to sources.”
Recent episodes have questioned the link between sugar and hyperactivity, explored the science of exercise, assessed the latest on Alzheimer’s, and considered next epidemics. “Most importantly, we acknowledge uncertainty where it exists,” Dr. Steier continues. “We ground everything in context. So if something has emerged in a preclinical study with rats, we don’t presume the same observations will transfer to humans.”
This candor is critical to building public trust, Dr. Steier notes. Trust badly needs to be rebuilt today, where conspiracy theories loom large and decisions about access to information – not to mention care—can be controversial. “You can share science, but if people don’t trust you, it will fall on deaf ears,” Dr. Steier notes. “So, before you can correct disinformation, you have to first establish a connection.”
Sharing Her Success: Actionable Insights for Other Science Communicators
So, what advice would she give to public health professionals looking to be clearer in their real-world messaging? “In a world of instant information, where much of what is put out there is done so without discernment, the silos of health science and ‘implementation science’ need to be overcome to make the former accessible and rebuild lost trust.
“That’s a new way of thinking, but the ability to share knowledge meaningfully with the public in a way that resonates with each audience is crucial,” she says. “At a practical level, it means building an inter-disciplinary team that will break down the silos and apply the right combination of expertise. On the implementation side, there needs to be a good foundation in data analysis and basic research design, as well as an understanding of what it means to communicate optimally to different audiences. Finding mentors that have been on this journey can really help here.”
Matching audiences not just to the channels they use but also the way they connect with content can be powerful. “If people wanted just science, they would read a science textbook,” Dr. Steier notes. “It’s the way you communicate that determines the connections you forge with people and, in turn, the trust you establish with your audience. As scientists, it’s natural to feel very passionately about our areas of expertise; the challenge is to communicate with people who don’t share the same level of understanding or who are skeptical. The key is to be patient, empathetic and understanding, and to meet your audience where they are.”
Finally, looking back over the last decade, how does Dr. Steier see her role as a CEO, educator and science communicator having changed, and what new challenges and opportunities does she anticipate facing in the coming years?
“I think the biggest change has been that rise in demand and in need for rapid, accurate science communication in a world of instant information,” she says. “The challenge, as a result, is how to properly and credibly put out correct, trustworthy information (which takes time and skill to collate and validate), when there are so many others dashing out information without holding themselves to those same standards. Technologies like AI and machine learning can clearly help with this, as long as they are applied consciously and ethically, to maintain that all-important audience trust.”
