Professional Development Meeting Assignment
Domain: Public Health
The meeting was held on Wednesday, November 15, 2017 from 4 pm – 5:30 pm at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. The meeting was part of the monthly Grand Rounds event organized by the CUNY School of Public Health. The topic of the meeting was Conflicts of Interest and Public Health Research.
The speaker was Marion Nestle, Paulette Goddard and Professor Emerita at NYU Nutrition and Food Studies Department. Dr. Nestle obtained her Masters in Public Health Nutrition as well as her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Nestle discussed the fact that conflicts of interest especially in the field of public health research is a complex topic and is not being recognized as a problem. As a well known and trusted source for nutrition information, Dr. Nestle is constantly bombarded with invitations to write articles, review papers, make appearances, and give talks all over the world. Dr. Nestle stated that she deals with conflicts of interest personally. For her appearances and other engagements, she agrees upon, she accepts payment in the form of her travel expenses being covered, meals, and any souvenirs or “swag” she is given. However, most of the time, she requests for companies, schools, etc. who ask for her services to donate to the NYU Library or to the Nutrition Department at NYU. She discusses the fact that she is aware of the fact that these companies may be influencing her unconsciously because even though she does not personally accept monetary payment, the fact that these entities still spent money may still have an influence on the things she says even if she does not realize it.
As the talk progressed, Dr. Nestle discussed some instances where nutrition research is completely biased because it is funded by big corporations. Dr. Nestle discusses Coca-Cola and how some research regarding the links between obesity and Type 2 diabetes showed that sugary beverage consumption was not a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic. However, when one looks closely the research that did not show any correlation between obesity and Type 2 diabetes, these studies were funded by Coca-Cola. Dr. Nestle mentioned that Cola-Cola must now show who they are funding. She also mentioned that in 2014, 14% of nutrition research received industry funding which means that there could have been blatant or unconscious bias. This fact shows that it is difficult to find nutrition sources to trust and it just shows the importance of doing research as a consumer to know whether or not the information came from a credible course. However, we know that the average consumer does not take the time to research information he/she reads on the internet or watches on television. People think that since the research was on the news then it must come from a credible source which is why a great number of people are giving false nutrition advice.
Dr. Nestle provided various rationales as to why schools or other entities choose to accept funding from companies. She explained that it is difficult to get government funding to conduct research of any kind. Another reason she shared is that scientific journals do not want to publish studies with negative results. Universities accept industry funding because the university itself promotes industry partnerships. Looking at these reasons, it is easy to see why researchers would accept donations or funding from big companies. However, this makes the field of nutrition unreliable unless you know which sources are trustworthy.
Dr. Nestle provided solutions to decrease conflict of interests. She suggested that the government could allocate more federal funding for researchers. However, in the current political climate, it is very unlikely that this will ever happen. She also suggested that a third party can handle all donations and distribute them to researchers. But again, that solution has been tried before and was unsuccessful.
Dr. Nestle concluded the talk by telling everyone that conflicts of interest is a real problem and will continue to be a problem if nothing is done. She suggested that the public should be more vocal about asking researchers who funded their study or even asking big companies to be more transparent regarding the research they are currently funding.
I thought that the presentation was not biased at all. Dr. Nestle was transparent regarding her personal experience regarding conflicts of interest. She provided specific examples of instances where she encountered criticism regarding her decision to agree to speak or attend an event. I thought that this discussion regarding this particular topic from a trusted individual in the field of nutrition is really interesting because she is in demand and people want to hear what she has to say. For her criticism of industry funded research, she provided data to support her accusations. Her PowerPoint presentation contained clear data regarding this topic and it was clear that she conducted thorough research before speaking about this subject.
I learned a great deal during Dr. Nestle’s presentation. I like how she started with discussing her personal experiences with the topic. Her transition from personal experiences to other sources of conflicts of interests was great. She found ways to reference her own experiences with conflicts of interest with the other data she presented.
I thought that the meeting covered the stated topic. As a nutrition expert especially in the field of public health research, Dr. Nestle provided everyone with a comprehensive coverage of the problem regarding conflict of interest.
Refreshments were served during the event. None of the food or beverage related to the topic itself. Therefore, I did not think that anything was worth mentioning regarding the refreshments.
Applies to:
CRDN 1.4: Evaluate emerging research for application in nutrition and dietetics practice
CRDN 1.6: Incorporate critical-thinking skills in overall practice
CRDN 2.2: Demonstrate professional writing skills in preparing professional communications
CRDN 2.9: Participate in professional and community organizations,
