When I first discovered the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) more than a decade ago, I was thrilled. In a culture that tempers its opinions for fear of offending, here was an organization that followed the facts wherever they led. Their experts weren’t afraid to call out nonsense—whether it came from activists, politicians or even other scientists. The public deserved the truth, and ACSH gave it to them.
In time, I was given the opportunity to work for the Council, first as a research assistant and freelance journalist, then as a full-time staff member and now as the organization's president.
As I step into this leadership role—replacing Thom Golab, who guided ACSH through a period of impressive growth—I’m excited to highlight the remarkable progress we’ve made recently. I’m also eager to introduce major expansions to our longstanding mission that will help us reach even more people in need of science-based guidance.
The public, policymakers and the media continue to rely on us as a trusted source. Our website generates about two million impressions per month, and we reach more than 100,000 followers weekly across our social platforms and email newsletter. Alongside our op-eds in major news outlets, national TV and radio appearances, viral social media posts, and peer-reviewed policy research, our impact is global and substantial.
Why we’re growing
The results we’ve achieved, and will exceed in the coming years, start with our experts, both full-time staff like Drs. Chuck Dinerstein and Josh Bloom and our growing lineup of contributing writers. They cover a broad range of science and health topics, spanning drug policy, food safety and infectious disease to environmental protection, chemical regulation and even nuclear energy.
Here are just a few examples of how this team of brilliant thinkers is driving our growth.
Reaching families and children
The expert analysis we publish on our website is turned into bite-sized videos, podcasts and infographics for parents bombarded by health scams on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook. This work is led by our new director of media communications, Ana Dolaskie. She’s doing an incredible job of helping ACSH reach younger generations of Americans who have been raised on social media. They spend their days online; we fill their feeds with sound science.
Collaboration with leading science communicators
Our work on social media has opened the door to collaborations with wildly popular science communicators. I’m talking about eminent scientists like Dr. Paul Offit and Dr. Jessica Steier. By hosting these experts on our Science Dispatch podcast and newly launched Mom Pod Takeover, we’re providing evidence-based insights to curious audiences that now trust ACSH to guide them through the digital morass of health “influencers” and activist scare campaigns.
But we’re not just teaching the public. ACSH recently partnered with the American College of Toxicology to train their fellows in better science communication. These quarterly webinars are designed to arm young doctors, primarily emergency medicine physicians, with the tools they need to better understand and communicate with their patients.
Help us keep growing
Our supporters make all this exciting progress possible: our faithful readers, newsletter subscribers, social media followers—and our donors. If you belong to this dedicated base, thank you! You’re helping us defend science in an era when it’s essential. If you’d like to partner with us, consider making a donation through our website or PayPal, following us on your favorite social platform and subscribing to our newsletter.
We’re excited for what’s coming next.
Cameron English
Executive Vice President
Cameron English is a writer, editor and co-host of the Science Facts and Fallacies Podcast. Before joining ACSH, he was managing editor at the Genetic Literacy Project.
