Charles Piller
@charlespiller.bsky.social
Investigative reporter @sciencemagazine. Before: investigations for @statnews @sacbee_news @latimes. cpiller@charlespiller.com - Signal: cpiller.01 - Author of the book "Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's"
16 months after a young girl died in a gene-editing trial, the study's entry in clinicaltrial. gov has finally been updated to acknowledge the death. The move comes after @science.org and @retractionwatch.com revealed the fatality 1/ science.org/content/arti...
ClinicalTrials.gov
clinicaltrials.gov
Exclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made public | Science | AAAS -- amazing and important story via @retractionwatch.com reporter Brendan Borrell www.science.org/content/arti...
Exclusive: Death of girl in Chinese gene-editing trial was never made public
Parents want accountability after study went disastrously wrong, Science and Retraction Watch investigation reveals
science.org
Illuminating story - A key Arctic science outpost finds itself tangled in a geopolitical web | Science | AAAS via Richard Stone www.science.org/content/arti...
A key Arctic science outpost finds itself tangled in a geopolitical web
Svalbard is warming faster than almost anywhere on Earth, but security concerns are tightening access to its glaciers, fjords, and sea floor
science.org
Glad to see that the litany of defects in the $13B SF-Oakland Bay Bridge have not been totally forgotten. Decent intro via MegaBuilds: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAr9... I spent years investigating those. They were ignored or never adequately fixed. Among many articles: www.sacbee.com/news/investi...
The Most Expensive Bridge in US History Is Quietly Falling Apart
YouTube video by MegaBuilds
youtube.com
U.S. researchers face new restrictions on publishing with foreign collaborators - sobering report by @jeffreybrainard.bsky.social | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. researchers face new restrictions on publishing with foreign collaborators
NIH, NASA grantees are confused and concerned amid agencies’ piecemeal communication
science.org
A conference taught me that scientists and journalists must work together to protect research - great insights from @lonnibesancon.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/d41...
A conference taught me that scientists and journalists must work together to protect research
Science sleuth Lonni Besançon realizes that he has sometimes misunderstood what the media want from him and his researcher colleagues.
nature.com
The Fight Over Antisemitism Studies - thoughtful, nuanced reporting by @stephaniemlee.bsky.social www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
The Fight Over Antisemitism Studies
How money, fear, and October 7th forged a contentious new area of study.
chronicle.com
Medicare is spending far less than expected on new Alzheimer’s drugs www.statnews.com/2026/05/11/m... via @statnews.com @bobjherman.bsky.social
Medicare is spending far less than expected on new Alzheimer’s drugs
Adoption has been slow with new Alzheimer’s drugs because the treatments are complicated to administer and the benefits are uncertain.
statnews.com
Thanks to Stephen J. Dubner, Dalvin Aboagye, and colleagues for having me on a great Freakonomics episode about Alzheimer's and my book Doctored. freakonomics.com/podcast/why-...
freakonomics.com
“Game-changer” breast cancer study retracted as Indiana researcher out of his post - findings by @thatsregrettab1.bsky.social retractionwatch.com/2026/04/15/g...
“Game-changer” breast cancer study retracted as Indiana researcher out of his post
A group of cancer researchers whose work has been questioned by sleuths has been hit with their third retraction in less than a year. Today, Science Translational Medicine (STM) withdre…
retractionwatch.com
A monumental head-scratcher: Why won't the journal just retract the study? Judge tosses lawsuit over controversial Paxil ‘Study 329’ retractionwatch.com/2026/04/02/j...
Judge tosses lawsuit over controversial Paxil ‘Study 329’
A judge has dismissed a legal challenge aimed at forcing Elsevier to retract a long-criticized study that concluded the antidepressant Paxil was safe and effective for teens. The 2001 paper, publis…
retractionwatch.com
If you’re in the Boston area, please join me on April 16 for my talk about the tragedy of fraudulent or false Alzheimer’s research – and the response to my book “Doctored.” Talk and reception sponsored by MIT Knight Science Journalism. ksj.mit.edu/event/lectur...
Lecture: Investigating Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in Alzheimer's Research A Talk and Discussion With Investigative Reporter Charles Piller - Knight Science Journalism @MIT
Join Charles Piller, a correspondent for Science and investigative reporter, as he discusses his book “Doctored,” an examination into how unscrupulous researchers, government enablers, and Pharma exec...
ksj.mit.edu
Another paper supporting discredited Alzheimer’s research by Sylvain Lesné on amyloid-beta *56 is retracted – 4 years after it was detected (and the journal alerted) by Matthew Schrag – and verified by @elisabethbik.bsky.social shorturl.at/N0Xqg My investigation from 2022 shorturl.at/qe8Oe
RETRACTED: Cognitive effects of cell-derived and synthetically derived Aβ oligomers
This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy).This article has …
shorturl.at
Judge upholds 15-year debarment against scientist who once threatened to sue Retraction Watch retractionwatch.com/2026/03/26/a...
Judge upholds 15-year debarment against scientist who once threatened to sue Retraction Watch
iStock An appeals judge has recommended the U.S. Health and Human Services uphold a proposed 15-year debarment for a scientist accused of research misconduct more than a decade ago. In a May …
retractionwatch.com
Fascinating look at efforts by a wealthy family to change the course of a deadly brain disease | Science | AAAS via @jennieerinsmith.bsky.social www.science.org/content/arti...
Can a wealthy family change the course of a deadly brain disease?
Inspired by the loss of their mother, they have poured millions into studying a key protein behind frontotemporal dementia. But all has not gone according to plan
science.org
I find it hard to be shocked by such admissions, but this one is pretty intense: A medical journal says the case reports it has published for 25 years are, in fact, fiction via @katetravis.bsky.social retractionwatch.com/2026/03/03/c...
A medical journal says the case reports it has published for 25 years are, in fact, fiction
A Canadian journal has issued corrections on 138 case reports it published over the last 25 years to add a disclaimer: The cases described are fictional. Paediatrics & Child Health, the journal…
retractionwatch.com
For more background, see @charlespiller.bsky.social 's reporting in Science here: www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
Another #retraction for former National Institute on Aging division director Eliezer Masliah today. link.springer.com/article/10.1... pubpeer.com/publications... Combined work by @mumumouse2.bsky.social , @thatsregrettab1.bsky.social, Matthew Schrag, @charlespiller.bsky.social and me.
This glass wafer could back up your phone—and last 10,000 years - this might be what I've been waiting 20 years for! www.latimes.com/archives/la-... | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
This glass wafer could back up your phone—and last 10,000 years
Laser-written patterns on glass could store data for millennia at a time
science.org
More well-deserved honors for STAT - Polk Award for reporting on impact of Trump on health www.statnews.com/2026/02/18/s... via @statnews.com
STAT wins fourth Polk Award for reporting on impact of Trump on health
STAT has won its fourth Polk Award in five years for documenting the Trump administration’s shakeup of the FDA, scientific research, and public health.
statnews.com
UnEDXpected Peaks - New and fascinating data explorations from @elisabethbik.bsky.social scienceintegritydigest.com/2026/02/09/u...
UnEDXpected Peaks
Over the past couple of days, I have been reviewing a series of Materials Science papers, all co-authored by the same group of researchers from the Universities of Lahore, Chakwal, and Sargodha in …
scienceintegritydigest.com
Thanks to the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing @sciencewriting.bsky.social for hosting me for a webinar on investigative reporting on science, with the great @lizagross.bsky.social Here's the link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zvxz...
CASW Connector Chat: Tips and Tools for Investigative Science Reporting
YouTube video by CASW ScienceWriting
youtube.com
Court challenge could chill reporting of research fraud, say whistleblower attorneys retractionwatch.com/2026/02/11/f...
Court challenge could chill reporting of research fraud, say whistleblower attorneys
utah778/iStock The U.S. government recently announced a record $6.8 billion in False Claims Act settlements and judgments in 2025, the most in a single year since the law’s enactment 163 years ago.…
retractionwatch.com
Controversial Danish vaccine research group faces new allegations | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Controversial Danish vaccine research group faces new allegations
Researchers say they couldn’t find complete data for 10 trials that together enrolled tens of thousands of children in Guinea-Bissau
science.org
Inside the quest to make a safer football helmet | Science | - great pre-Superbowl examination by Adrian Cho - AAAS www.science.org/content/arti...
Inside the quest to make a safer football helmet
New energy-absorbing designs and materials have revolutionized the iconic safety device
science.org
Thanks so much to Cassandra Quave for a great conversation on her podcast Foodie Pharmacology about my book “Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s” – now also out in paperback. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVpf...
Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance and Tragedy in Alzheimer’s Research with Charles Piller
YouTube video by TeachEthnobotany
youtube.com
Thanks to John R Miles for a great conversation about my book "Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's" on his podcast Passion Struck passionstruck.com/charles-pill...
Alzheimer's Research Fraud: Charles Piller on Doctored
Investigative journalist Charles Piller exposes Alzheimer’s research fraud and the hidden misconduct that delayed cures and reshaped modern science.
passionstruck.com
New review of my book, "Doctored," which was just released in paperback, from a publication of the University of Toronto www.immpressmagazine.com/doctored-202...
Doctored (2025) by Charles Piller – IMMPress Magazine
immpressmagazine.com
To hear some of the reporting details and conclusions of my book, "Doctored," about misconduct in Alzheimer's research, please check out my new interview with Melanie Avalon. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/3...
