Veteran JAMA editor Drummond Rennie, MD, has received the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in recognition of his advocacy for the free exchange of unbiased scientific information.
The AAAS called Rennie a “visionary in safeguarding the integrity of how scientific information is gathered and communicated.” The award cites his “career-long efforts to promote integrity in scientific research and publishing” as well as his “outspoken advocacy for the freedom of scientists to publish in the face of efforts to suppress their research.”
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Drummond Rennie, MD
Rennie, deputy editor for JAMA and adjunct professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, has been a leader in working to keep unreliable or biased data from being published in the scientific literature. In numerous speeches and articles he has addressed scientific misconduct, editorial freedom, research accountability, conflicts of interest, industry-sponsored research, and standards for reporting research—particularly in clinical trials.
Donald Kennedy, PhD, former editor-in-chief of the journal Science, said Rennie is an “icon of fairness and sound policies in the world of medical publishing.”
As originator and chair of 5 International Congresses on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication, Rennie created a forum for researchers to present and discuss new findings on methods used to evaluate and disseminate biomedical information. In effect, he ushered in a new field of empirical research into how science is conducted and translated into practice. The field now focuses on such issues as how publishing is affected by authorship issues, peer review, funding, conflicts of interest, publication bias, reporting standards, and other factors.
The AAAS also noted that Rennie has been a “tireless advocate” for scientists pressured by industry and other forces to suppress or limit publication of research that could have a negative impact on a commercial product. For example, after receiving unsolicited documents that contained communications among executives, lawyers, and scientists showing that they knew of the addictive, cancer-causing properties of cigarettes, he shepherded manuscripts based on that information through to publication in JAMA. Those studies and the media attention they received reached an estimated 200 million people and made a lasting impact on public policy and public health.
Rennie holds a medical degree from the University of Cambridge in England. He received the award in February during the 175th AAAS meeting in Chicago.
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