Interview with Dr Fabienne Pradella

Policy sessions at the annual meetings of the German Society for Epidemiology

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Dr Fabienne Pradella is a postdoctoral researcher at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and the Heidelberg Institute for Global Health. Her research is at the interface of epidemiology and economics and is dedicated to the conditions for a healthy life for all - from pregnancy to old age. Her current projects focus the effects of environmental influences during pregnancy on the health of offspring and the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases in later life.

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Ms Pradella, at which events have you organized policy sessions?

We organized our sessions on the UN Sustainable Development Goals at the annual meetings of the German Society for Epidemiology, which take place every year with around 250 - 300 participants. The annual meetings take place in a different city each year and we have invited two to three local decision-makers to discuss a specific topic with us.

How did the idea of inviting decision-makers to a scientific event come about? What topics did your session deal with?

The idea arose from discussions with colleagues at previous annual conferences. A healthy life for all at all ages is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Science and research as well as the local level are also considered to be of great importance for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals - which is why we found it exciting to bring the German epidemiological community into contact with local decision-makers at the Annual Meetings. Our idea was to bring together the scientific and practical perspectives. To this end, we selected topics that are highly relevant to research and practice, such as child health or access to healthy nutrition.

Which decision-makers did you invite? Did you have any previous contact with them?

We contacted people who had points of contact with the respective topic of our session at various levels. For example, the second mayor of Ulm was a guest, as were people involved in local initiatives, such as the employee of an association that promotes healthy daycare and school meals in the Greifswald region. We had no previous contact with these people - over time, it turned out that making contact over the phone worked best to explain our concerns well. We also met some of them for lunch in the run-up to the conference.

How can we imagine your policy session?

The sessions usually started with keynote speeches lasting a maximum of 10 minutes, which covered scientific and practical perspectives. As the exchange between science and practice is a priority for us, we experimented with various interactive formats, such as topic discussions or scientific "speed dating". As organizers, we primarily moderated and designed transitions between key questions. It was also important for us to document the sessions. Our core organization team consists of three people and one of us usually summarized the discussion during the session on flipchart paper for all participants to see.

Science and practice have different cognitive logics. Technical terms are also often used in science and practice that are not known in the other "world". How did the communication between researchers and decision-makers work in your sessions? Was it always clear to the participants what was meant?

We certainly learned a lot in this respect. It helped to make the topic of the sessions as specific as possible. In order to cover the thematic expertise from the scientific side as well, we involved the working groups of the specialist society - after all, we also organized sessions on topics that we do not research ourselves. This resulted in exciting ideas that also facilitated communication. For example, we worked with the Health Geography working group to create a map of a street in Greifswald so that we could discuss access to healthy and sustainable nutrition using a specific example.

Did the exchange with decision-makers give you impetus for your own research?

Yes, definitely. As I just mentioned, I learned a lot about how I can process information about my research in a way that is appropriate for the target group. The discussion of knowledge gaps and relevant topics for practice in our sessions also gave rise to research ideas - although not necessarily for my own research, as I don't have any expertise in the field of childcare or school catering, for example. Instead, I was able to learn a lot of new things and gain insights into other fields of research. In terms of motivation, the sessions also made me even more aware of the relevance of my research.

Was the planning and implementation of the policy sessions more time-consuming than holding a regular scientific session?

I would say that the organization was at least different, as there was much more communication and consultation beforehand. Researching the relevant decision-makers was not always easy and it sometimes took a while to get the right person on the phone. However, I personally found this a welcome change, especially during the doctorate. A big advantage was that we didn't need any financial resources, as the sessions took place as part of a larger event and the involvement of local decision-makers meant that there were no travel costs.

Which tips would you give researchers who are thinking about organizing policy sessions at scientific conferences?

It was important for our sessions that we formed an organizational team made up of people at different career levels, with different skills and backgrounds. We also discussed our plans with the board of the specialist society in advance. The dynamics and interests of participants in scientific conferences certainly differ depending on the discipline. At the time, we decided to simply try out our idea - with the attitude that we would have learned something if no one came. In the end, it turned out that there was interest, in our case particularly among young researchers.

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The questions were asked by Tome Sandevski. He heads the policy engagement unit at Goethe-University Frankfurt, where he coordinates the joint policy engagement projects of the Rhine-Main-Universities Goethe-University Frankfurt, Technical University Darmstadt and Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz.