Seth Mnookin

Seth Mnookin is the award-winning author of three books. His most recent book, The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear, is a ground-breaking blend of current events, scientific history and sociology. It chronicles more than a quarter-century’s worth of fears that childhood vaccines cause a range of developmental disorders and health problems. Using interviews with parents, public-health advocates, scientists, and anti-vaccine activists, Mnookin tackles a fundamental question: “How do we decide what the truth is?”

Mnookin’s previous books include Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top (2006), a New York Times best-seller, and Hard News: The Scandals at The New York Times and Their Meaning for American Media (2004), which uses the plagiarism and leadership scandals at the New York Times as a case study of the struggles of a daily newspaper in the rapidly changing world of journalism.
 
In addition to his work as a best-selling author, Mnookin is an award-winning journalist who has written for many respected publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York, Slate, Wired and Spin. He graduated from Harvard University in 1994 with an honours degree in history and science, and was a 2004 Joan Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.

Noni MacDonald

Dr. Noni MacDonald is a Professor of Paediatrics and of Computer Science at Dalhousie University with a clinical appointment in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax Canada.  She is head of the Health Policy and Translation Group of the Canadian Centre for Vaccinology. She has published over 290 papers primarily in infectious diseases, served on a number of editorial boards. She is Editor in Chief of Paediatrics and Child Health, one of the most read Canadian speciality journals and Section Editor for Population and Public Health for CMAJ- one of the top 10 general medical journals based on Impact factor. She is a former Dean of Medicine at Dalhousie University, an elected fellow of Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and serves on many professional organization, federal government and international advisory committees. Dr. MacDonald has long been recognized in Canada, as an advocate for children and youth health and as a leader in paediatric infectious disease.