Extensive empirical research demonstrates that financial conflicts of interest (study sponsorship and study authors with a financial conflict of interest from industries that have a stake in the outcome) bias the scientific process. This is particularly concerning when it comes to science advisory committees, which are tasked with providing impartial, evidence-based guidance to inform government policies on health, safety, and the environment.
In this webinar, Dr. Nicholas Chartres, Dr. Lisa Bero, Wendy Wagner, and Dr. Kristi Pullen Fedinick explored the influence of financial conflicts of interest on science and regulatory decision-making, the laws that minimize harm, and efforts by the current Administration to enable corporate capture of EPA and dismantle environmental regulation altogether. Speakers also provided solutions and discussed opportunities to hold the administration accountable.
The webinar was concluded with a discussion period, and was hosted by UCSF's Program on Reproductive Health and Environment and Science Action Network in collaboration with the Union of Concerned Scientists and CHE.
This webinar is one of a series of conversations related to on-going changes at the federal level. These conversations will include a variety of opinions and perspectives.
Featured Speakers
Kristi Pullen Fedinick, PhD is an Associate Research Professor at George Washington Milken Institute School of Public Health and was the Assistant Director for Environmental Justice Science and Technology in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy - supporting the development of a roadmap for how science, data, and research can support the needs of all people – especially those who have too often been left behind. Dr. Pullen Fedinick's interdisciplinary expertise spans from the subatomic to the societal, informing policy and communicating the impacts of environmental degradation and social inequity.
Lisa Bero, PhD is a Chief Scientist at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at Colorado University. She is a leader in evidence synthesis, meta-research and studying commercial determinants of health, focusing on tobacco control, pharmaceutical policy, and public health. She provides international leadership for multidisciplinary teams studying the quality, use and implementation of research for health and health policy. Dr. Bero has developed and validated qualitative and quantitative methods for assessing bias in the design, conduct and dissemination of research. She has pioneered the utilization of internal industry documents and transparency databases to understand corporate tactics and motives for influencing research evidence. She is internationally recognized for her work and serves on national and international guidelines committees such as US National Academies of Science Committees and the World Health Organization Essential Medicines.
Nicholas Chartres, PhD, MHumNutr, is a Senior Research Fellow at The University of Sydney. He specializes in studying commercial determinants of health, focusing on chemicals, nutrition and public health. As the lead author of the first in-depth study on how industry sponsorship influences nutrition research, he is an expert in identifying and analyzing industry influence and developing methods to reduce industry bias in the research process. Nick is the lead scientific advisor at the UCSF Center to end Corporate Harm.
Wendy Wagner, JD, is the Richard Dale Endowed Chair at the University of Texas School of Law. She has authored three books and over six dozen articles and book chapters on issues related to the design of bureaucratic processes, environmental and health regulation, and law and science.