Scott D. Crawford

Customer Trajectory: Michael Linderman

Customer Trajectory: Michael Linderman

by | Aug 20, 2019

On an early June afternoon, Michael Linderman and I sat in our respective offices, our faces connected as they often are through a Zoom video call. Mine in Michigan, his in Vermont. I was eager to chat—I had only once before known someone to attend Harvey Mudd College, one of the seven contiguous Claremont Colleges huddled together in an otherwise sleepy Los Angeles suburb. I had heard stories from the other Mudd alumni I know about pranks pulled against their Caltech rivals (Google “Caltech Cannon Heist” if you want to learn more), and I wanted to know if Michael had been involved.

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Revisiting the Role of the Science Journalist

Revisiting the Role of the Science Journalist

by | Jul 24, 2019

In today’s ecosystem of online science publications, it can be hard to tell what qualifies as journalism and what doesn’t. Does it matter?

For Erin Zimmerman, a plant molecular biologist turned freelance science writer living in Ontario, Canada, a recent plant science conference presented a rare opportunity to meet scientists working in the field and to gin up some story ideas.

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Surveying College Students with SMS: Is it Feasible?

Surveying College Students with SMS: Is it Feasible?

by | Apr 25, 2019

Text messages (also known as Short Message Service, or SMS) have become the go-to medium when contacting others. This is especially the case for today’s college students, who seem to conduct their social and even business lives completely via messaging service.

SoundRocket examined the data surrounding the efficacy of using SMS when surveying college students, resulting in presentation at a past American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) Conference.

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Decoding FDA DTC Policy: Part 5 – Final Thoughts

Decoding FDA DTC Policy: Part 5 – Final Thoughts

by | Nov 16, 2018

Over the course of this week, we have covered a variety of related topics that arose from the recent FDA activity around direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing.  Because this is so new, much is yet unknown, so the best we can do today is speculate. However, we thought we would wrap up today with a few parting ideas to consider…

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Decoding FDA DTC Policy: Part 4 – The Physician/Genetic Counselor Perspective

Decoding FDA DTC Policy: Part 4 – The Physician/Genetic Counselor Perspective

by | Nov 15, 2018

The National Society of Genetic Counselor’s position statement on DTC testing from 2015 states that consumers have the right to make an informed decision on DTC genetic testing. As with other DTC tests based on SNP array technology, it is important that companies offering these tests are very clear when discussing their limitations. For instance, the 23andMe Personal Genome Service…

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