PQE Group creates an internal research Task Force to fight fake news in relation to COVID-19

With the pandemic caused by COVID-19, the continuous need to obtain information has pushed people to rely on unreliable sources, thus fomenting the spread of fake news.

For this reason Gilda D’Incerti, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and founder of PQE Group, quality services provider for Life Sciences, decided last month to create a task force of employees within the corporate community to perform researches on one of the most discussed side effects of COVID-19: the Infodemic.

During one of the monthly video messages to the employees that D’Incerti sent during the lockdown to the over 700 employees divided into the various Italian and foreign branches, she asked to receive applications to join a team of researchers. The aim would have been to investigate, in a methodical and systematic way, the most salient aspects of five main areas of information – such as science, ecology, mathematical models, social economy and legal – which in the last months since the start of the pandemic have largely contributed to shape the public debate.

The team, consisting of 24 expert consultants from PQE Group graduated in various disciplines ranging from Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology to Social and Economic Sciences, is working to provide information as much as possible via the corporate communication channels scientifically correct and updated on these topics, reporting the results obtained in a clear and simple manner.

“Science for laymen” is the slogan of the team, which reminds how important is to provide safe and clear information to the community.

In order to guarantee data security both scientifically and qualitatively, two internationally renowned pharmaceutical auditors have been selected to support the team: Claudio Puglisi, Vice President of PQE Group and Executive Committee for external relations of the Parental Drug Association (PDA), and Paolo Baroldi, who before becoming a consultant for PQE US Inc. (American subsidiary of PQE Group) served as Vice President of Development and R&D Chairman at Chiesi Farmaceutici SPA.

On of the main benefit of this research is also the cultural diversity of the task force, as the employees chosen by the internal board for this project are from the main countries affected by COVID-19 such as Italy, Spain, Japan, India, the US, Mexico and Brazil. In this way, in addition to deepening different points of view, the various teams will have access to cross-cutting information, capable of making the news more reliable.

Here are the questions the researchers answered in the first articles published and available for download from PQE Group website in PDF:

• What is SARS-CoV2 from Genetics perspective and how did it evolve from animal to human?
• Fight against SARS-CoV-2: treatments and prevention. What are the pros and cons of drug therapies?

In the coming weeks, more articles will be published to clarify other issues:

• Which is the probability that new epidemic phenomena could occur in future? A probabilistic big data analysis to prevent the emergence and spread of future epidemics
• How environmental pollution could influence COVID-19 morbidity and spreading?
• How the COVID-19 crisis changed the economic world map and will?
• What did WHO, EC and each country have in terms of a legal framework already in place to combat the virus?

At the same time, scientific video pills will be published on the PQE Group Youtube Channel, also aimed at the dissemination of easy-to-understand scientific-cultural information.

“The idea of ​​the Infodemic Task Force project stems from the fact that in recent months we have been bombarded with a lot of conflicting information, some, perhaps the most interesting, were largely incomprehensible to those who did not have a scientific background. Therefore, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to have many colleagues who instead had this background, to launch a dissemination initiative, trying to create clarity and a common vocabulary in terms of scientific terminology for the general public and for the community of PQE Group.

“It is a unique idea that I also want to reproduce in the future because it represents a way to make people feel better in our community,” Gilda D’Incerti, CEO and founder – PQE Group.

“We believe this effort creates added value for our company because it represents a real possibility and opportunity for our employees to take part in a research project and invest part of their working time in investigating COVID-19 news,” Giampaolo Mazzuca, Partner & Board Member Infodemic Task Force – PQE Group.

“I believe that this internal project is a real service that we can provide to the society we live in to improve the well-being of the community. Last but not least, it is our mission to provide safe information and fight one of the most impacting problems created by the Coronavirus epidemic: the Infodemic,” Thomas Carganico, Communication and Marketing Director – PQE Group.