Drummond Rennie
Drummond Rennie was the 2008 recipient of the Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility. As a nephrologist and high altitude physiologist, he has made numerous milestones in the fields of scientific research and publishing.
Philosophy
Rennie believes he has a simple message: “if you find something that gets up your nose: sneeze, and go on sneezing until you’ve cleared the obstruction.” [1]
Academic achievements
Rennie has developed a way of safeguarding “the integrity of how scientific information is gathered and communicated.” He was a pioneer in the advocacy of “compulsory registration” in terms of educating those in the industry – as well as the entire public – on clinical trials, even those that rendered negative results. Because of his work, all clinical trials – as a matter of standard practice – appear on a registry.
Rennie had a pivotal role in research that was including in the Journal of the American Medical Association proving that cigarettes caused cancer and nicotine was an addictive drug, two-and-a-half decades before that conclusion was reached by the Surgeon General. Ultimately that publication reached around 200 million people, making a real imprint on public policy. Rennie also had a key role in how allegations of research misconduct should be handled. He has conducted research on the subject of pathophysiology of hypoxia.
He also presented the sixth Equator Annual lecture.
Education
Rennie earned his MD from Cambridge University and Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London. To complete this, he undertook research into cyanotic congenital heart disease. He also has an MACP and FRCP.[2]
Academic appointments
Rennie held the role of: Deputy Editor of the New England Journal of Medicine (at Harvard), Deputy Editor (at JAMA), Adjunct Professor of Medicine (at the UCSF). He came up with the plan and thereafter was the director for all seven International Congresses on Peer Review in Biomedical Publication. In the past he was chairman of a multi-journal group researching interventions in peer review. Other roles he held include: co-director of the San Francisco Cochrane Center, a member of the Proposal Review Advisory Team of the National Science Foundation, member of the American Alpine Club, the Tobogganing Club of St. Moritz, president of the Council of Science Editors, president of the World Association of Medical Editors, a founding member of the CONSORT, QUOROM, MOOSE, STARD and STROBE initiatives, a member of the Commission on Research Integrity to the Public Health Service.
Books
Rennie has participated in the editing of various articles and books in the series the “Users’ Guides to the Medical Literature” and the “Rational Clinical Examination.”
He also participated in the writing of the following publications: The Obligation to Publish and Disseminate Results; The STARD Statement for Reporting Studies of Diagnostic Accuracy: Application to the History and Clinical Examination; Sixth International Congress on Peer Review and Biomedical Publication. Call for Research; What is Research Misconduct?; Handling Whistleblowers: Bane or Boon?; Seeding Trials: Just say No.; Health of the Nation 2008 and Beyond; Assessing Authority; Integrity in scientific publishing and Clinical Trial Misconduct.[3]
Awards
Rennie was the 2008 AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom & Responsibility recipient “for his career-long efforts to promote integrity in scientific research and publishing,” recognizing “his outspoken advocacy for the freedom of scientists to publish in the face of efforts to suppress their research.”
Acclaim
According to former editor-in-chief of the journal ‘Science,’ Donald Kennedy, Rennie is an “icon of fairness and sound policies in the world of medical publishing.” According to AAAS he has been “a tireless advocate for individual scientists who have been pressured by industry and other forces to suppress or limit publication of studies or specific outcomes of research that could have a negative impact on a commercial product.”[4]
Personal data
He spends half his time between United Airlines and his home in a forest, a mile from Buncom, a ghost town in the mountains of Southern Oregon.
References
- ^ "ANNUAL LECTURE 2014: Presented by Dr Drummond Rennie". Equator Network. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ "Editors". McGraw Hill Medical. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ "Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies". UCSF. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ^ "AAAS honors Dr. Drummond Rennie For promoting high standards of integrity in scientific publishing and research". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 6 May 2015.