"Science in the Age of Risk Management"
Associate Professor of Risk Analysis and Decision Science
Director, Kids Risk Project
Harvard School of Public Health
"Science in the Age of Risk Management" |
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Kimberly
M. Thompson, Sc.D. Associate Professor of Risk Analysis and Decision Science Director, Kids Risk Project Harvard School of Public Health |
Dr. Kimberly Thompson is Associate Professor of Risk Analysis and Decision Science at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she created and directs the Kids Risk Project (http://www.kidsrisk.harvard.edu). Professor Thompson is nationally and internationally known as an expert in risk analysis and decision science, particularly on children's risks and on probabilistic risk analysis. Her research interests and teaching focus on the issues related to developing and applying quantitative methods for risk assessment and risk management, and consideration of the public policy implications and communication challenges associated with including uncertainty and variability in risk characterization. Drawing on a diverse background, she seeks to effectively integrate scientific, technological, social, political, legal, and economic issues into risk analyses that inform public policy and improve decision making in what she calls the Age of Risk Management (http://www.aorm.com). A popular and engaging speaker, Professor Thompson will provide some historical perspective on the evolution of how humans make choices and deal with risk and on the complexities of managing a wide range of risks for our times. Over the course of her presentation, she will cover topics ranging from airbags to entertainment media to vaccines to zebra chips reflecting the wide range of areas in which she actively performs research. Professor Thompson will demonstrate the hazards of failing to consider the real differences that matter between individuals when making decisions, talk about how uncertainty should be viewed as empowering and as the main motivation for scientific discovery, and emphasize the critical role of science in modern society.
Professor Thompson is also co-Founder and Director of Research of the Center for Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital Boston. Dr. Thompson earned her Doctor of Science Degree in Environmental Health at Harvard and her Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in Chemical Engineering from M.I.T. She is author of Risk in Perspective: Insight and Humor in the Age of Risk Management (AORM, 2003) and Overkill: How Our Nation's Abuse of Antibiotics and Other Germ Killers Is Hurting Your Health and What You Can Do About It (with Debra Bruce, Rodale, 2002), and her work has been widely covered in popular media.