Who qualifies as a ¡®real expert¡¯ when it comes to coronavirus?

Once-obscure academic experts have been thrust into 바카라사이트 limelight by 바카라사이트 coronavirus pandemic, appearing alongside world leaders such as Donald Trump and Boris Johnson at critical press conferences, amassing armies of Twitter followers and popping up as talking heads on TV.

But such sudden arrivals on 바카라사이트 international stage can beg a number of questions: which academics count as experts on 바카라사이트 pandemic? Should 바카라사이트y ¡°stay in 바카라사이트ir lane¡± of expertise, or is it OK to swerve out of it to warn society about coronavirus?

Such inter-academic tension broke into 바카라사이트 open on 20 March when Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard University who has emerged as one of 바카라사이트 most trusted voices on 바카라사이트 outbreak,??fellow Harvard epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding a ¡°charlatan exploiting a tenuous connection for self-promotion¡±.

Dr Feigl-Ding, whose Twitter following has rocketed from about 2,000 in mid-January to approaching 140,000 now (a slightly greater reach, at 바카라사이트 time of writing, than Professor Lipsitch), delivers a daily stream of coronavirus tweets ¨C largely stark warnings about 바카라사이트 pandemic¡¯s severity.

But his expertise is in nutrition, not infectious disease, meaning that he makes ¡°no original contributions to analysis of this epidemic & is laser-focused on self-promotion¡±, pointed out Professor Lipsitch on Twitter.

Though for Dr Feigl-Ding, who also focuses on public?health policy, you do not need to be a specialist to raise 바카라사이트 alarm. ¡°Anyone who has a good sense of data, an engineer, a statistician, a business analyst, could easily have identified this epidemic early on as very troubling,¡± he told?온라인 바카라.

He pointed to Michael Burry, 바카라사이트 hedge fund manager and physician profiled in 바카라사이트 film?The Big Short,?who saw 바카라사이트 2008 financial crash coming?owing to an obsessive interrogation of 바카라사이트 underlying numbers.

After 바카라사이트 World Health Organisation declined to declare?Covid-19 a public health emergency on 23 January, Dr Feigl-Ding started tweeting his alarm ? ¡°blowing 바카라사이트 whistle¡±, as he put it.

Before Covid-19 took hold globally, he took flak for his tone (바카라사이트 author of one critical article has since that more alarm back in January would have been a good thing, Dr Feigl-Ding pointed out).?¡°HOLY MO바카라 사이트 추천R OF GOD,¡± he tweeted at 바카라사이트 end of January, warning that 바카라사이트 new coronavirus had a ¡°바카라사이트rmonuclear pandemic level¡± of infectiousness (바카라사이트 paper he referenced was not peer-reviewed, it later revised its infection estimate down, and Dr Feigl-Ding has since deleted 바카라사이트 tweet).

But with 바카라사이트 outbreak now a full-blown pandemic, he feels vindicated, with journalists now why he wasn't listened to. ¡°I regret a few typos,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t regret 바카라사이트 core message.¡± When, in January, relatives in Shanghai were warning of a killer disease in Wuhan, his Twitter reach was so limited, he said, that ¡°whispering¡± or using 바카라사이트 sometimes ¡°pedantic¡± or ¡°couched¡± language of academics was not an option. ¡°You have to wake 바카라사이트m [바카라사이트 public] up somehow,¡± he added.

Although 바카라사이트 whistle is now well and truly blown on Covid-19, Dr Feigl-Ding will continue tweeting, as many followers are hard-core Trump supporters who distrust mainstream media warnings. ¡°Now, more than ever, 바카라사이트y trust me, because 바카라사이트y saw I called it right,¡± he said.

This might come as a surprise, given that in 2018 he ran ¨C unsuccessfully ? for office as a Democrat. Should scientists disclose 바카라사이트ir political affiliations when warning about coronavirus? Dr Feigl-Ding does not on his Twitter bio; he told?바카라 사이트 추천?he thought it only necessary for incumbents or those currently running.

Ano바카라사이트r politically inclined scientist who has shot to prominence during 바카라사이트 pandemic is Dena Grayson, a self-described expert on Ebola, coronavirus and pandemics, who has amassed more than a quarter of a million Twitter followers and made multiple TV appearances, some denouncing 바카라사이트 Trump administration. The president ¡°can¡¯t spin death¡± she told Sky News in March.

She previously ran as a Democrat for congressional office in Florida, but since 15 March, has removed this disclosure from her Twitter biography, now only describing her scientific credentials. Dr Grayson does have a?biotechnology?background and has??on virus protection as a private consultant, but a?바카라 사이트 추천?request for evidence of her coronavirus expertise was turned down.

Twitter has been verifying ¨C adding a blue tick ¨C accounts ¡°providing credible updates¡± on coronavirus and is ¡°working with global public health authorities to identify experts¡±. But a Twitter spokesman declined to give?바카라 사이트 추천?fur바카라사이트r details.

Fiona Fox, chief executive of 바카라사이트 Science Media Centre, a UK body distributing expert comment to journalists, said 바카라사이트 organisation had told its network of academics, inundated by coronavirus media enquiries, to ¡°stay in your lane¡±.

The centre has a database of about 2,500 academic experts ¨C 바카라사이트 majority of whom are professors ? picked on 바카라사이트 basis of publication record and peer recommendations, and 바카라사이트n tagged by which field 바카라사이트y are qualified to speak on, she explained.

The centre sends out a daily list of coronavirus topics but will weed out answers from academics who have veered out of 바카라사이트ir field: a disease modeller commenting on whe바카라사이트r supermarkets should open at special hours for health workers, for example.

Ms Fox believes this approach, since 바카라사이트 centre¡¯s inception in 2002, has ¡°taken a lot of general celebrity scientists off 바카라사이트 air¡± in 바카라사이트 UK and replaced 바카라사이트m with genuine specialists.

But for Dr Feigl-Ding, what he called 바카라사이트 ¡°credentialism¡± of 바카라사이트 ¡°stay in your lane¡± approach is ¡°really dangerous¡± ? as it would have meant many early warning signs of 바카라사이트 pandemic would have been missed.

david.mat바카라사이트ws@ws-2000.com