Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 02/10/2026It's bizarre how we seem to be ok with charlatans exploiting vulnerable patients - thanks to @theguardian.com for covering our concerns.. www.theguardian.com/society/2026...theguardian.com‘Self-healing’ coach who was banned from working in Australia to speak in UKBarbara O’Neill has previously claimed that cancer is a fungus that can be treated with bicarbonate soda 1134
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Also, huge thanks to all who raised head above parapet to sign or support. O'Neill's fan base can be rather aggressive as my 300+ abusive messages over the weekend would attest.. @gorskon.bsky.social @statsepi.bsky.social @lizoriordan.bsky.social @profsanderlinden.bsky.social 050
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026And as Instagram constitutes the largest audience for this content, we've shared letter there too, linked below. In case you don't use that, here's the FAQ we added in response to a barrage of trolling. www.instagram.com/p/Dd0pvudCKG... 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026As a result, we're making the text of the letter public. While ultimately a venue's choice whether to host such events, we hope it's helpful in explaining why there are concerns, and illustrating the life-threatening risks to patients that exposure to such health fictions pose. Here's date / venues 110
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026We wrote this initially as a private correspondence to venues. Last Friday, however, O'Neill posted a video to her 3.5 million followers implying (wrongly) that our letter was somehow connected with her detention in Qatar. This is false, as covered here. www.instagram.com/reel/Ddtsa_i...instagram.comInstagramCreate an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you. 110
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Self-described healer Barbara O'Neill is banned from giving health advice in her native Australia, but is booked for lucrative events in UK & Ireland next month. Health misinformation kills: we've written to venues elucidating why O'Neill's health fictions harm vulnerable patients ⏬ 12511
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Agreed. We've a paper coming out on this too.. 000
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026..I'd also recommend watching the video because it gives an idea of just how hard the hard sell is, lest you think I'm mispresenting. You can view full promotional material on any platform, it's been pretty heavily marketed. They're far from alone, this is just most expensive I've seen 050
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026(Thread posted in full expectation of tumbleweed to ensue, except maybe @statsepi.bsky.social seal of approval) 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Is it ethical? I don't think so. But is it lucrative? Yup. 150
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026I know many of you are allergic to Instagram, but since the demise of twitter I've used it primarily, and I explain all this and more in a video here. I honestly have no idea why this is allowed, and I keep getting messages from people asking if they should go on it www.instagram.com/p/DctqJqxoL-t/instagram.comInstagramCreate an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you. 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026But, EVEN if these tests were done.. those epigenetic clock testing systems don't tell your biological age. In fact, they often disagree with each other by UP TO 17 BLOODY YEARS. Aging researchers don't even agree on them, so the entire exercise is at best pointless, especially as they ALREADY sell 140
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026..well firstly, these mysterious trials have never been done, nor are they to my knowledge even registered. With normal pharma products, you'd have to do a trial BEFORE you sell a product, but in the topsy-turvy world of supplements, you sell first and maybe ask questions later. Maybe! 150
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026So in all the promotion of this supplement, the claim it actually reverses aging and that there's clinical trial data to show this features heavily in the media blitz. Like this puff piece from the SBP... where it apparent shaves 5.2 years off your biological age. Where do I sign up?! Except... 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026Gentle reminder: unless medically directed, you don't need supplements. They are foodstuffs, not medicines, and are cheap - a month's supply of collagen is ~1 euro wholesale. So how are some Irish doctors justifying charging €250 quid A MONTH for them? That's a good bloody question.. a short🧵.. 2179
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 30/08/2026..the net effect is highly corrosive to democracy itself - Iceland's EU membership referendum just latest example. This bit should terrify us.. 020
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 30/08/2026As a misinformation researcher, I wish people understood this part better: Disinformation has outsized impact on low information voters with poor media literacy, disinformation is well-funded, social media companies complicit www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...theguardian.comIceland rejects EU accession talks after divisive referendum campaignWell-funded no camp prevails, winning 52.8% of votes and gaining plaudits from Eurosceptic figures across Europe 160
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Also, wrote Jolene & I will always love you in the same day. Plus, playing decent guitar in acrylic nails - that alone is impressive! 020
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Dolly Parton has died at 80. An incredibly talented woman who didn't only give us music, but funded entire libraries and even vaccine research. Her empathy for her fellow humans is an incredible legacy - one conspicuously absent in tech billionaires.. www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...theguardian.comDolly Parton, country star, actor and philanthropist, dies aged 80Songwriter of I Will Always Love You, Jolene and 9 to 5 also invested millions in child literacy, Covid-19 vaccine development and other causes 1130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Yeah, as other meta scientists have said on other forums, this is a deflection: internal investigations are toothless, the plagiarism is extremely clear and way beyond bounds of honest mistake. But his transgressions were hardly unique 110
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Arday may have been a fabulist and certainly committed plagiarism, but his misconduct was no worse than hundreds of other academics in the UK and beyond. The frenzy of media interest reflects both an ugly racial dimension, and an astounding failure by a prestigious university. And now a man is dead. 060
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Whatever the intention of promoting Arday above his ability or career stage, it was deeply unfair to him and has imploded tragically. It has fuelled racist false narratives that people of colour are less qualified than white academics, and the harms will be enduring www.nytimes.com/2026/08/15/w...nytimes.comProfessor’s Death Leaves Behind Hard Questions for Cambridge on Race and HiringJason Arday, the school’s youngest Black professor, was found dead on Friday. The school ignored a series of warnings about his life story and his work. 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Fringe groups try to discredit critics: the racist extremists that went after Arday were unrelenting, and found a weakness. He was evidently fragile, and I cannot understand why Cambridge didn't do their due diligence, instead elevating him to a position he was unqualified for and vulnerable in. 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026I had anti-fluoride / anti-vaccine loons email the VC to fire me, and 10 years ago when my conspiracy theory paper went viral, the fact it was an Oxford publication made cranks across the world extra furious. Even had one scary guy show up at my office. Cambridge link likely made it worse for Arday 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026I also suspect UK fixation with Oxbridge made Arday even more a target. Over the years I've attracted the attention of deeply unpleasant fringe groups: when I was postdoc or visiting researcher at Oxford, that affiliation seemed to just intensify their attacks, increasing their need to discredit.. 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Now, none of this is acceptable and we should demand more from our academics. But the reality is that much of academia is dysfunctional, and jobs unstable: researchers are under immense pressure to perform, which encourages many to nudge their findings or inflate their CV to secure employment. 140
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Nor, incidentally, were Arday's academic sins unique, even for Cambridge: Historian William O’Reilly in 2023 made legal attempts to silence reporting over his plagiarism of students, a course of action echoed by Arday to notably greater opprobrium. Only reported in FT. www.ft.com/content/ae7f...ft.comCambridge professor remains in post despite plagiarismHistory academic published an article containing large parts of essays copied from one of his students 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026I also interrogated the @retractionwatch.com database: over the past 5 years, over 400 scientific papers by researchers affiliated with UK institutions alone retracted for reasons of misconduct, few of which registered in public discourse. Stark contrast with 200+ articles in UK media on Arday.. 131
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Misconduct rarely garners media interest, even when committed by University presidents. The retraction of a(nother) paper last year by an OBE-holding director of Cambridge toxicology institute for image manipulation received no UK press coverage, for example: retractionwatch.com/2025/07/18/d...retractionwatch.comDirector of Cambridge toxicology institute retracts paper for potential image manipulationTwelve years after sleuths flagged problematic images in a 2009 paper, the authors — including the head of a UK research institute — have retracted the article. The paper, published in … 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026This stems from perverse incentives. Most academic jobs are unstable, publish-or-perish makes sloppy research as well rewarded as diligent work. Few consequences for getting caught, dishonest conduct can be serious career boost - a nettle universities have still not grasped. tinyurl.com/mcsda5cktinyurl.comModelling science trustworthiness under publish or perish pressureAbstract. Scientific publication is immensely important to the scientific endeavour. There is, however, concern that rewarding scientists chiefly on public 131
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Even in life-or-death realm of bioscience, ~85% of publications are deemed research waste, either too poorly conducted to answer a research question or too poorly described to replicate. Fraud has increased exponentially in last 25 years, retractions at record highs. www.bmj.com/content/363/...bmj.comResearch waste is still a scandal—an essay by Paul Glasziou and Iain ChalmersProgress has been made towards reducing the 85% of wasted effort in medical research—and the huge amounts of money misspent and harm caused to patients—but there’s still a long way to go, say Paul Gla... 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 18/08/2026The tragic death of Jason Arday is an awful story. There's been much (often nasty) commentary on Arday's scholarship, with UK redtops pretending now to be concerned bastions of research integrity. Utter nonsense: misconduct in academia is EXTREMELY common, and media rarely cares. Let's review 🧵 194
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 12/08/2026...it was so bloody obvious this paper was garbage. You can see just how bad in our commentary from 2024 in the @retractionwatch.com article, which the journal rejected. Completely unsurprising it was used by authors to try & legitimise an ideological belief the evidence didn't & doesn't support. 210
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Saskia Mostert this year insinuated to US Senate COVID vaccine harms were being suppressed, citing her paper on excess deaths. That paper has just been retracted, over 2 years since Ariel Karlinsky, @gorskon.bsky.social , myself & others raised alarm it was bad retractionwatch.com/2026/08/11/b...retractionwatch.comBMJ Group retracts paper on COVID-19 vaccines and mortality featured in Senate hearingBMJ Public Health has retracted a paper some — including a witness at a recent U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing — have used to link COVID-19 vaccines to deaths. The action comes more than two years… 141
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 08/08/2026..also a Lakatosian who completely rejects falsification isn't a Lakatosian, given it is also intrinsic in that framework 100
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Occam's razor has already been explained here, and you can reformate it in Bayesian terms if you prefer. If you are a philosopher as you say, you'll no doubt be familiar with the conjunction fallacy too. I've also published on why conspiracy theories in science are unsustainable, so there's all that 010
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 06/08/2026..treating lab leak narratives as equally explanatory as natural origins is scientifically disingenuous. Former requires multiple unjustified assumptions, the latter doesnt. Nor does any evidence negate the latter to make former viable. Kinda like insisting aliens built the pyramids.. 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Finally, science doesn't just stop considering things: we rely on falsification, only accepting ideas while they're compatible with all data and rejecting them when they're not. If we found real evidence that covid was invented, natural origin would be automatically falsified. But we haven't so... 240
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 06/08/2026..your strange dataset example is misleading: to show fraud I'd have to show values not compatible with real measurements, and possibly evidence of manipulation: onus would be on me to show this. I've gotten bad papers retracted for fraudulent data on occasion, but onus to show it was on me. 120
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 06/08/2026This messes up two fundamental scientific concepts - 1st is burden of proof: onus to support a claim is on proposer, not on others to prove wrong. 2nd is parsimony: any candidate explanation require assumptions, all of which must be justified. More assumptions, weaker a priori model 120
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 04/08/2026I keep thinking that as chunks of the world exceed wet bulb temperatures at which humans can survive, it astounds me we're doubling down on policing arbitrary borders instead of prepping for integrating more people given what will inevitably come thanks to our choices thusfar. Not a popular take.. 010
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 04/08/2026...before anyone complains (and they do) that is an Instagram link, given that's my largest active platform and where I chiefly post these days. Anything I post on a meta platform attracts the kind of guys whose scientific education ended around the same time as their grammar studies 🤨 130
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 04/08/2026That a dedicated public servant like Anthony Fauci is before a kangaroo court for doing his job is damning indictment of American politics. Lab leak remains a deeply stupid narrative, beloved of the worst people.. www.instagram.com/reel/DbnGj46...instagram.comInstagramCreate an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you. 3123
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/08/2026Clearly racist extremists are stoking this. But the issues identified are clear violations of academic integrity, egregious enough that they likely demand retraction. Outlets like @retractionwatch.com and the Guardian are not right wing reactionary outlets, the criticism of the work is deserved 030
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 01/08/2026As someone who has been targeted both academically and personally by obsessive fringe groups for my academic work and also as someone who investigates scientific integrity concerns, the Jason Arday case is wild.. www.theguardian.com/education/ng...theguardian.comPlaybooks, plagiarism and a pig’s head: new claims surrounding a star Cambridge professorJason Arday was regarded as an academic superstar, but then questions about his work prompted scrutiny of his backstory and counterclaims of racism 141
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 29/07/2026Anthony Fauci is a national hero. Rand Paul is an international embarrassment. It is bizarre to watch a halfwit kangaroo court in real time, do Republicans think history will look favourably on this pathetic fixation? www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07...nytimes.comTrump Administration Live Updates: Fauci Pleads Fifth in Senate Hearing on Covid Origins (Gift Article) 172
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 29/07/2026As a post script to all this, I wasn't initially that familiar with his music, but the year before I'd played guitar and backing vocals for a friend's wedding, including "Falling slowly" - I really liked the guitar line & harmonies, and after that appreciated his talent much more. 010
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 29/07/2026I of course didn't know him in any meaningful way, but this positive exchange sticks with me, as no other signatory took the time. RIP, thoughts with his family and friends today. 160
Dr David Robert Grimes @drg.bsky.social · 29/07/2026He was an Oscar-winning celebrity who could have ignored a nobody like me, or doubled down over perceived criticism. Instead, he took time to do something most of us find difficult: engage honestly & change our mind when evidence implores it. That speaks to an admirable humility & thoughtfulness. 140