Katie Couric on how losing her husband to cancer emboldened her to take action (Exclusive)

When Katie Couric's late husband, Jay Monahan, was battling colon cancer, the veteran journalist was forced to take a crash course in science and medicine. She was the one tasked with understanding the different treatment options, and she used her skills as a self-described "communicator" in order to make educated decisions about her husband's health crisis.

"I had to be like, 'Okay, wait, what is targeted therapy? How does it work? How does chemotherapy work? What about radiation?'" she exclusively told AOL during a recent sit-down interview. "I had to learn all of this stuff and translate it to my husband’s life, but my whole career I’ve spent taking complicated issues and making them understandable and digestible."

Since losing her husband to cancer in 1998, Couric has made it one of her life's missions to raise money for cancer research and education, founding Stand Up To Cancer, the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance and the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health.

Now, Couric has broadened her scope and, in partnership with 3M, is encouraging the public to pay more attention to science as a whole. The organization recently released the findings of its second annual global State of Science Index, which found that skepticism around science has gone up 3 percent globally and a whopping 6 percent in the United States.

"In some cases, science has become politicized, and it shouldn’t be. It should really be above politics, and science is actually a very unifying thing," Couric told AOL. "Science can solve some of these big, thorny issues and it really should be above politics. But, unfortunately, it has been politicized. What’s very encouraging is to see young people demand that it not be and that it be taken seriously."

For more from Katie Couric, check out our full conversation below, where we discuss losing her husband to cancer, how the tragedy inspired her to take action and inspire others and the ways in which science has changed her perception on a variety of important topics, like childhood obesity.

You're helping to spread awareness about the findings of 3M's second annual State of Science Index, and you have a clear passion for science. Where did that passion originate for you?

It wasn’t as a child. I was sort of your classic, "I’m a girl and I’m not good at science," person. Mrs. Pollen’s science class in eighth grade, I think I got a bad grade and got kicked off the cheerleading squad temporarily -- or was that for smoking in the bathroom? I can’t really remember. [Laughs] I really didn’t excel in science as a kid, but unfortunately a tragedy ignited my passion for science. When my husband [Jay Monahan] was diagnosed with cancer, I had to take a crash course in medicine and in cancer research. Through that experience and through my colon cancer advocacy work and starting Stand Up To Cancer, I began to spend a lot of time with cancer scientists and my respect and appreciation for them was really profound. Because of that, I realized that we all really are so dependent on science to lead longer, happier lives, to breathe cleaner air, to drink cleaner water and to keep the planet sound and healthy. We rely on science for all kinds of things, even now in our daily lives. When I heard that 3M was embarking on this State of Science Index and measuring how people feel globally about science and how much they trust it and how much they believe in it, I was really excited to bring attention to it.

We really do rely on it in a lot of ways that most people probably don’t even think about. We have a passive relationship to science. Was part of the reason you're raising awareness about the findings of 3M's survey to fight against that?

As you know, the media landscape is very crowded and very cluttered, and sometimes we don’t step away and look at the big picture. We obsess over minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day events, and sometimes we just have to stop for a second and look at these overarching issues that really have a huge impact on the way we live. I’ve always been interested in doing that -- connecting the dots and looking at the big picture -- so this is a way for me to say, "Hey everybody, this is the state of science and how people feel about it and these are some warning signs and ways we can close the gap and fix things."

It's also so important that these messages are coming from someone like you, who a lot of Americans trust with disseminating important information.

I had to do that with Jay’s cancer diagnosis. I had to be like, "Okay, wait, what is targeted therapy? How does it work? How does chemotherapy work? What about radiation?" I had to learn all of this stuff and translate it to my husband’s life, but my whole career I’ve spent taking complicated issues and making them understandable and digestible. I do think I bring certain skills as a communicator that I think scientists could use more of. That’s one of the things that the survey found, is that we need to help scientists do a better job of making their work understandable and not daunting or intimidating for the layperson. If it’s on a certain level, it’s very alienating for people that don’t have that expertise. Somehow, we have to bridge that gap, which is what I’ve done my entire career.

One of the more interesting findings was that skepticism about science has increased globally by 3 percent, but the increase is double that -- 6 percent -- in America. Is that a political thing? A religious thing?

In some cases, science has become politicized, and it shouldn’t be. It should really be above politics, and science is actually a very unifying thing. I think about cancer: It doesn’t matter if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, Red State or Green State, conservative or liberal; everybody wants better treatments for cancer, and everyone wants the people they love to survive. So, I think science can solve some of these big, thorny issues and it really should be above politics. But, unfortunately, it has been politicized. What’s very encouraging is to see young people demand that it not be and that it be taken seriously.

You've talked about how better education in the sciences is an important tool in reversing some of these trends, but what are some other things that need to change?

We have to broaden the playing field for people to get involved in STEM, because the number of girls and people of color has declined who are going into STEM. We need all people to go into STEM, but especially those who are underrepresented. We also need to rebrand science and make sure it’s inclusive and stop those associations with gender and race that we seem to form from a very early age about who can do what in society, and you don’t even realize how many messages you get reenforcing a certain stereotype from a very, very early age. We have to stop those associations from happening, because our brains are actually hardwired to make these connections that are the result of visual and behavioral cues. We have to be extremely mindful of that, because what it does is it cuts off people from certain possibilities, and we just can’t afford to do that.

People assume that there’s no room for them or that the space is already too crowded.

Right, or that it’s not for them or they don’t see people like them in those fields. That’s another thing, when you Google "science" or "doctors," men in white jackets come up, you know? That’s why it’s super important to tell stories of people who are doing great things in STEM who aren’t necessarily the typical person you think of when you think of a career in science. I think we’re seeing that and that the world is changing. I think we’re at this real inflection point where people are realizing that words, images and stories we tell matter. The people we work with matter, and I feel a real sea change and that people and companies are taking it very seriously.

Is there an opinion or something you thought of as fact that you used to have that has been debunked by science during your career? Surely there have been tons of developments in science during your career as a journalist.

That’s a really hard question, Gibson. A fact that I believed that’s been debunked? I think that my view of cancer has changed a lot. I used to think that every cancer was different, but cancers have a lot of commonalities and now what’s super exciting for me is that treatments for, say, melanoma can also be very efficacious for childhood brain tumors. We’re just learning so much more about how cancer behaves and the cellular structure and biology of cancer and what it does. That, to me, is super exciting, because I used to have a very simplistic view of cancer, but as science is understanding how complicated it is, my perception of cancer has changed.

I also did a documentary about childhood obesity [called "Fed Up"], and I always thought that low-fat diets were the key, but actually they’re responsible for a lot of the obesity in the country because when you take out the fat it tastes like cardboard, and so you pump in a lot of sugar. Sugar and carbohydrates are actually responsible for a lot of obesity, instead of what I thought, which was fat. One thing I think that’s important to mention is that sometimes people get confused by science, because one thing will come out one day and then something else comes out the next. But we understand science enough to understand that with new knowledge and new discoveries, sometimes opinions can change and that’s okay. We, in the media, could do a better job at explaining studies and why a study shows a certain thing instead of putting a headline for clickbait so people will click on it. That doesn’t help people understand it, and that’s something that could improve.

You mentioned Stand Up To Cancer, which you co-founded over a decade ago, back in 2008. What kind of effect have you seen from your willingness to shine a line on cancer through the organization?

It’s very heartening to see people who are coming after me, like Craig Melvin, whose brother has colon cancer -- he’s taking the mantel, and he’s becoming the nagging wife of colon cancer screenings. [Laughs] I’m so associated with it, and people know that my interest is so genuine, like on my Instagram, you should read the comments. It’s amazing how many people want to share their stories about it. There’s still a bit of a stigma or discomfort in talking about cancer, even today, and I think that we’re stronger together. If we have a sense of community, we can move the needle on some of these things.

This interview has been edited and condensed.