Sense about Science

The John Maddox Prize for courageously advancing public discourse with sound science recognises individuals who stand up for science and evidence, advancing public discussion around difficult topics despite challenges or hostility. 

2023 Maddox Prize

She has been commended by the judges who said: 

“Nancy Olivieri has been awarded the 2023 Maddox Prize for her communication of the importance of being open with patients about medical research, which has followed her own determination to act with integrity in raising concerns from trials on the drug deferiprone for the blood condition thalassaemia, in the face of extreme pressure from the company producing it, ultimately at great personal cost.” 

In 1996, Olivieri was working at the SickKids Hospital in Toronto, acting as lead investigator in a clinical trial of deferiprone. Deferiprone is a medicine used to remove excess iron from the body in patients with thalassaemia major. She began to suspect the drug was causing serious adverse events, which Apotex, the drug manufacturer and a funder of the trial, denied. When Olivieri indicated she intended to inform participants of her concerns, Apotex terminated the trials and invoked a confidentiality agreement in the research contract and threatened legal action if she made the findings public. Undeterred, Olivieri shared her results at a scientific meeting and submitted them for publication.    

Through her actions, Olivieri championed the importance of patient safety. In 2000 Olivieri was fired from her position at SickKids hospital and charged with professional misconduct, despite the fact it was revealed that the hospital had received a large donation from Apotex. From 2000 to 2009 Olivieri worked at the University Hospital Network (UHN), but she was subsequently replaced with a clinician supported by Apotex. 

In 2009 the FDA declined Apotex’s request for approval of deferiprone as first-line therapy. In 2011, the FDA issued approval for deferiprone as “last resort” therapy, to be prescribed only after first-line therapies had failed, cautioning that no controlled trials of deferiprone had demonstrated direct treatment benefit. The licensing conditions for deferiprone continue to vary around the world. 

2023 Early Career Award

She has been commended by the judges, who said: 

“Chelsea Polis has been selected for the 2023 early career award for her courage in challenging false marketing claims made by medical device manufacturers; for effective popular communication; and for her analysis of the flawed research used to market a fertility tracking thermometer, known as Daysy, as a contraceptive, which she communicated effectively in the face of lawsuits and threats.” 

Polis works towards improving global sexual and reproductive health on issues including contraception, HIV, abortion, and infertility. She is an advocate for ensuring that policies around controversial issues in reproductive health are backed up by high quality scientific research. From 2020-2022 Polis was unsuccessfully sued by the medical device company Valley Electronics for publicly sharing her scientific and regulatory concerns pertaining to their marketing of the Daysy fertility device. Her efforts lead to the company’s misleading paper being retracted from scientific literature. Polis also shared her concerns with the FDA, which resulted in them telling Valley Electronics to change their marketing language that they used to promote Daysy. 

2023 Shortlist

This year the independent panel of judges shortlisted 6 individuals nominated by the public, whose experiences demonstrate a global problem in good science not being made public, or researchers being intimidated from asking important questions, across scientific disciplines. Their examples show the importance of defending the principles of scientific research and integrity and showing courage in doing so. 

Shortlisted nominees Linda Guamán, Peter Hotez, Helen Joyce and Shabir Madhi, were commended by the judges: 

“Linda Guamán has been shortlisted for her bravery in enduring political intimidation for her conduct as a scientist in public office. Caught up in a backlash against the city mayor, she has been charged as a result of ordering reviews of Covid-19 tests already purchased by city authorities, forced to wear an electronic shackle and is threatened with 10 years in prison.“

The claim that the tests were inferior was based on the fact that Monitor’s tests did not use the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology to amplify viral RNA, but another system named loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). LAMP obtains quicker results than PCR because it does not need repeated cycles of heating and cooling, but is less sensitive to very low levels of virus in a sample. Even though the tests were acquired before she took office, the prosecutor claims that Guamán concealed information showing the tests based on this different technology were of poor quality once she was in office in the Health Ministry. In light of the concerns, Guamán requested multiple reviews of the tests that came back with varied sensitivity results. 

In spite of conducting multiple efficacy reviews of the tests, Guamán has suffered extreme consequences of political intimidation. In January 2021, national police and the case prosecutor raided her office, taking her phone and laptop, and passwords. She was denied the presence of her lawyer during this judicial procedure. In February 2021, she was charged with embezzlement. Her and her colleague’s passports have been revoked, and both have been forced to wear electronic shackles. 

“Peter Hotez has been shortlisted for his far-reaching efforts to explain the science behind vaccination and Covid-19 vaccinations in particular, to many different public audiences; and for his refusal to debate with the lawyer Robert F Kennedy junior on vaccine science, in the face of major financial inducements and harassment, on the basis that science is not decided by court room debating skills.” 

Despite persistent personal threats made against him, Hotez has continued his efforts to combat anti-science and misinformation. Hotez has been an advocate for vaccinations and due to his efforts to combat misinformation and ‘anti-science’, addressing public questions about vaccines and the disparities and inequalities associated with the pandemic. 

In addition to his extensive scientific communication and outreach, Hotez is part of a Nobel Prize-nominated team of scientists who created an affordable, easy-to-make coronavirus vaccine; Corbevax, which is patent-free and has almost delivered 100 million doses.  

“Helen Joyce has been shortlisted for her courage in raising the importance of considering biological sex differences in health and social research, and the need for medical interventions to be evidence-based and transparently researched. Against a background of polarised and at times hostile reaction she has advocated for all researchers to be able to share findings openly and safely, whilst raising awareness of the harms resulting from a lack of research and absence of evidence underpinning medical interventions.” 

Joyce advocates for all researchers to feel able to share research findings openly and safely, in areas related to sex differences and in analysing the effects or possible risks of medical interventions to alter the physical manifestations of biological sex. She highlights the need for further study, open communication and measured scientific discourse to support evidence-based policy and decision making in these areas, where there is intense and growing societal interest.  

Having worked at The Economist since 2005, and following publication in 2021 of her book Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality, in 2022 Joyce became Director of Advocacy for the campaigning group Sex Matters where she continues to stand for open dialogue on these topics, despite a polarised and at times hostile background where she has faced death threats and threats of sexual violence.

“Shabir Madhi has been shortlisted for communicating evidence that challenged the suitability of lockdowns for South Africa during the Covid-19 pandemic and insisting, in the face of international pressure, that policies should not be copied from elsewhere but based on an understanding of regional dynamics. He also communicated difficult evidence with local populations, including his own Muslim community, where he was criticised for ascribing higher rates of morbidity to ritual religious gatherings.” 

Before South Africa went into lockdown in March 2020, Madhi spoke out at a meeting convened by the Minister of Health, where he argued that a zero Covid-19 strategy would fail. He correctly predicted that in the context of constrained health resources in South Africa the proposed lockdown would at best delay viral spread, following which there would be an immediate rebound of cases once restrictions were eased.    

Madhi led the first two Covid-19 vaccine trials in Africa. In February 2021, he provided the first evidence globally on the lack of efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccine in protecting against mild-moderate disease due to the SARS-CoV-2 Beta variant. The South African government initially decided against administering the AZD1222 vaccine which it had just procured. Madhi strongly opposed this decision, sharing reasoning as to why the vaccines were still able to protect against severe disease. He argued that high risk groups were better off immunised than being left unprotected.  

---

The John Maddox Prize is a joint initiative of the charity Sense About Science and the scientific journal Nature, continues to attract global nominations from individuals, across the disciplines, who are conducting essential work in standing up for sound science in the public interest and in the face of adversity and opposition. 

More on past winners of the Maddox Prize