“Infodemic” discussion series – Part 2 (Dr. Yamamoto & Dr. Kinoshita)

We invited Dr. Kinoshita and Dr. Yamamoto, who have been a source of information to the Japanese public through COVID-19 crisis by being prominent figures on social media. We conducted a series of discussions to ask them about their perspectives on the challenges in scientific communication.

Part 2 focuses on how to critically gather scientific information as someone who is not necessarily trained in science. Dr. Yamamoto and Dr. Kinoshita emphasize the importance of evidence-based discussions and the importance of flexibly evaluating information as new evidence become available as well as the credibility of the source of that information.

About the panelists

Dr. Takahiro Kinoshita (MD, MPH) is a healthcare data scientist who works in the US. He has actively communicated with the public using social media platforms during the pandemic to build trust in science. He is currently working on a social marketing campaign to increase awareness of the HPV vaccine in Japan.

Dr. Takehito Yamamoto is a surgeon specializing in gastroenterology. He is also known as “Surgeon KEIYU” with a popular twitter account and a blog in which he covers health literacy for the public and patient-doctor communication.