Scientific communication:posters and presentations

Scott K. Heysell MD, MPHInfectious Diseases and International Health

University of Virginia

All scientific communication is (polite) argument

▪ Grant▪ Manuscript▪ Meeting presentation/poster▪ Editorial/ letter to the editor▪ Peer review of another’s manuscript▪ Letter of recommendation

Why did you perform the experiment?Why are your results important?How does your work impact your field of study?

Know your audience and the context

▪ Peers▪ Colleagues familiar with your work▪ Experts in your field▪ Experts in a separate but related field▪ Non-scientific or non-medical community

Stairwell conversation

Tea time conversation

Your thesis dissertation

Stairwell conversation

“Tuberculosis treatment outcomes are poor, we think in part because of inadequate drug combinations and dosages. We

designed a test to see how well a TB patient’s plasma kills their own TB. We hope to use the test to optimize the drug regimen.”

“Looking forward to your lecture this week!”

Tea time conversation

“We believe TB drug regimens can be optimized to improve treatment outcomes. Low circulating drug levels are common but

require a lot of resources and expense to measure and their clinical significance remains unclear. We developed a test to measure the killing of a patient’s own plasma while on TB treatment that could be performed in any lab with a MGIT machine. We found the assay correlated well drug levels, particularly for isoniazid and rifampin,

the two most important drugs in first-line regimen. In Tanzania, patients had low drug levels and poor plasma killing.”

“Can you please pass the sugar?”

Thesis dissertation

“TB drug regimens can be optimized to improve treatment outcomes, but are dependent upon both achievable drug level and

M. tuberculosis MIC. In our study of the TB drug activity assay (TDA) where we co-cultured plasma from TB patients with their own M. tb isolate, we found a better correlation with TDA and drug level/ MIC, than to drug level alone. This occurred despite low drug levels that

were still well above the MIC. Not only can TDA serve as an estimate of drug levels in settings without access to HPLC, we think it should

be studied in the context of optimizing Cmax/ MIC for key drugs within both a drug-susceptible and a MDR-TB regimen.”

“Would you like to fund my grant?”

Components of a scientific poster

A descriptive title in large font, often referencing the study design

Authors names and institutions

Abstract

Optional to include

Background

Methods

Results ResultsData x y

1 4 7

2 5 8

3 6 9

Results Conclusions

Implications

Support/Contact

Photo

People read here

Now some examples of my own posters for you to criticize

(load other powerpoint slides)

Someone stops at your poster:

Introduce yourselfProceed with the “stairwell” conversation

If they appear interested:

Offer to walk them through the key resultsProceed with the “tea time” conversation

If they are still listening, asking questions:

Emphasize the conclusions/implicationsProceed with the “thesis dissertation”

Components of a 10 minute oral presentation for scientific meeting

Title page 1 slide 30 seconds

Background 1 (maybe 2) slides 1-2 minutes

Methods 2-3 slides 2-3 minutes

Results 3-4 slides (figures/ tables) 4-5 minutes

Conclusions 1 slide 1 minute

Implications 1 slide 1 minute

Acknowledgements only if not in title page 1 slide < 30 seconds

(Leaving 3-5 minutes for questions)

Not much time,use wisely

Choose the right color font/ background

Or else you will lose your audience(this font is too small)

Black font / white background

Yellow font/ blue background

Black font/ yellow background

24 point font is the smallest to use(practice projecting presentation with a colleague before)

Choose the right color font/ background

Or else you will lose your audience(this font is too small)

Black font / white background

Yellow font/ blue background

Black font/ yellow background

24 point font is the smallest to use(practice projecting presentation with a colleague before)

Choose the right color font/ background

Or else you will lose your audience(this font is too small)

Black font / white background

Yellow font/ blue background

Black font/ yellow background

24 point font is the smallest to use(practice projecting presentation with a colleague before)

Choose the right color font/ background

Or else you will lose your audience(this font is too small)

Black font / white background

Yellow font/ blue background

Black font/ yellow background

24 point font is the smallest to use(practice projecting presentation with a colleague before)

(An example of what not to choose)

Keep powerpoint art to a minimum

But it is acceptable to use a header line that does not distract and is kept throughout

Header font and text font should be kept the same size throughout

Small icons of university or affiliation are common in bottom or top corners, particularly for title page

Example of Title and Background slides

Blood Cultures for the Diagnosis of Drug-resistant TB in Rural South Africa

ASTMH Annual Meeting, 2009

Scott K. Heysell MD, MPHInfectious Diseases and International Health

University of Virginia

Tugela Ferry Care and Research Collaboration

on behalf of:Tania A. Thomas, Neel R. Gandhi, Anthony P. Moll, François Eksteen, Yacoob Coovadia, Lynne Roux,

Palav Babaria, Umesh Lalloo, Gerald Friedland and N. Sarita Shah

TF CARESTF CARES

Tugela Ferry Care and Research

Collaboration

Tugela Ferry, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Tugela Ferry

South Africa TB incidence: 948/100,000

South Africa TB pts co-infected with HIV: 44%Tugela Ferry ~80-90%

2006-2008 >650 cases of MDR and XDR-TB from Tugela Ferry

Tugela Ferry TB mortality*:MDR-TB 71%XDR-TB 83%

*Gandhi, AJRCCM 2010.

Drug-resistant TB

• Multi-drug resistant (MDR)-TB= resistant to isoniazid and rifampicin

• Extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-TB= MDR plus resistance to at least one fluoroquinolone and one second-line injectable agent (capreomycin, kanamycin, amikacin)

Examples of a Results slide

Majority of slow responders in Virginia had low C2hr levels of isoniazid (INH) and rifampin (RMP)

39 patients had testing to both INH and RMP: 32 (82%) had low levels to either medication

static

killi

ng

†p=0.008*p=0.07MIC: [INH <0.03, RMP 0.25]

Increasing RMP or INH concentration results in greater TB drug activity

Example of Conclusions/ Implications slides

▪ PZA is not inhibitory. EMB may have modest inhibitory effect against some susceptible isolates, but is not additionally inhibitory in combination with INH or RMP (data not shown) or against MDR-TB.

TDA is largely a measure of INH and RMP activity

Conclusions

▪ At clinically relevant combinations of INH and RMP, TDA reflects measurable additive effect for each drug, particularly when the MIC is low.

▪ As a measure of Cmax/MIC, TDA may add information beyond conventional drug susceptibility testing or drug levels alone.

Summary of results in written

form

▪ TDA can be used as estimate of drug activity in resource-limited settings that do not have access to individual drug level measurement (HPLC).

Implications

▪ TDA may be used for optimization of drug regimens in patients at risk of poor response to TB treatment.

▪ TDA warrants further study in larger cohorts and in multi-drug resistant TB where other medications are used.

Why is the study important,

how does it change the field

Summary

All scientific communication is (polite) argument

Remember the audience/context: stairwell conversation, tea time conversation, and thesis dissertation

Posters: ▪ leave plenty of blank space▪ less words and more figures/tables▪ highlight the top right corner for results and conclusions

Presentations: ▪ practice timing, remember to leave 3-5 minutes for questions▪ project presentation and stand at the back of room to see if all slides are readable

Practice, Practice, Practice