Impactful Communication for Impactful Science

Taking science to impact is not uniquely a task of scientists. It requires collaboration and communication to arrive at well balanced and broadly accepted decisions. The farewell symposium of Nicole Probst-Hensch, former Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health and former member of the Directorate at Swiss TPH, reflects on her career path from communication to science, from the private to the public sector, and from scientific curiosity to innovation and impact. Nicole Probst-Hensch’s personal benchmark is not academic titles and functions, but improving people’s health through her team’s science. Accordingly, the symposium is not the usual tribute to a scientist, but rather a backward- and forward-looking reflection on how to ensure that science can contribute to improving population wellbeing.

Swiss TPH activities are conducted along the value chain of innovation, validation, and application, reflecting the overarching goal of public health: to improve population health, with an equity and planetary health lens. Achieving impact in public health science requires public trust and data sharing, high levels of health literacy and engagement in behaviour change, and the consistent application of health promotion–oriented health-in-all-policies frameworks. The objectives pursued and the evidence generated by epidemiologists and public health scientists therefore rely on convincing and engaging communication. Communication channels and methods have broadened over the last two decades, and the consumption of news and scientific evidence by the public and by policymakers has changed drastically, offering novel opportunities, including emotional communication. Yet, they also harbour potential risks in the light of the complexity and uncertainty accompanying, for example, observational epidemiology. 

Objectives

The symposium offers a platform for exchange between public health scientists, communication experts, and policy makers in the spirit of mutual learning for impactful science communication. It pursues the following objectives:

• Connect reflection and foresight: We will look back on key scientific contributions in public health while exploring how research can have a stronger impact on society, policy, and practice in the future.
• Focus on impact rather than output: How public health research can move beyond publications to catalyse real-world change through new forms of collaboration, communication, and implementation, will take centre stage.
• Reconsider scientific responsibility: Participants will be invited to think critically and creatively about the role of science and communication in driving societal transformation.
• Inspire the next generation: Young researchers and students will be encouraged to see public health as a field that is not only analytical, but also deeply engaged in shaping societal change.