Bobby Warren believes that the frustration and anger some Americans harbor toward scientists and science is misplaced. He describes how important data and peer review are for demonstrating scientific results that people should trust. But, many people don’t trust scientific results, scientists, or individuals deemed “experts,” even though their title and academic history suggests that they should be trusted. Why is that?
Bobby says that science’s “flaws are magnified in a way that other fields are not,” relating an error made in the scientific process to a wrong note being played by a musician. You could play the song 99 percent correctly, but all people will remember is the one mistake you made.
Bobby’s perspective comes from his work at the Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention, as well as many years in academia studying biology and biomedical and health informatics.
Relevant Links
Remdesivir trial | Link
Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science | Link
Retracted scientific articles related to autism and vaccines | Link
New York Times stories of people who’ve died from COVID-19 | Link
FactCheck.Org – April White House Briefing | Link
Bio
I am originally from Winnabow, North Carolina where I attended South Brunswick high school. I then moved to Chapel Hill and attended the University of North Carolina where I received bachelor’s degrees in biology and music performance in 2015 and a Master’s of biomedical and health informatics in 2018 while working as a research assistant at Duke University. I currently serve as a microbiologist and clinical research coordinator for the Duke Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention and as an instructor of research mentorship at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. My research is focused on healthcare environmental contamination, disinfection, and sterilization to prevent the spread of disease, particularly C. difficile. My ultimate goal is to eliminate healthcare-associated infections by engineering effective and consistent disinfection strategies. Outside of research, I continue to play euphonium in a semi-professional ensemble called the Triangle Brass Band, am a video game enthusiast and I love to fish. I live in Durham with my wife and middle school sweetheart, Julia, my two dogs, Rio and Bear, and two cats, Lucy and Penny.
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