The “invented persona” behind the GISAID viral sequence database
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Re: The “invented persona” behind the GISAID viral sequence database
#2It's interesting that a person without any background in biology (Peter Bogner) was able to start a sequence database that has now become critical infrastructure for public health.
But it seems like GISAID has outgrown his ability to lead it, and it would be good to transition to more responsible leadership.
Re: The “invented persona” behind the GISAID viral sequence database
#3What a weirdo. Unclear what sort of benefit he is extracting from this though, certainly not money. And if he wants attribution/fame so bad, why create a fake identity?
Re: The “invented persona” behind the GISAID viral sequence database
#4Reminds me of the 'ReceptioGate' scandal, where amongst other weird and dodgy behaviour, a medieval manuscript researcher, Carla Rossi, had invented an entire set of staff for her online research institute and was even emailing people from a pseudonym: https://thecritic.co.uk/receptiogate-and-the-absolute-state-...
(Previously seen on HN here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34123302)
Re: The “invented persona” behind the GISAID viral sequence database
#5What a weirdo. Unclear what sort of benefit he is extracting from this though, certainly not money. And if he wants attribution/fame so bad, why create a fake identity?
Almost certainly is all about money.
How would you know how the millions of dollars sent to the organization are being spent?
For starters he is impersonating another director of the organization - right there probably pulling in two leadership salaries for a start. How many other fake employees are there?
Then he is most likely the sole decider on how that money is spent ... the article shows that he is a convicted grifter that spent time in jail for fleecing people ...
Re: The “invented persona” behind the GISAID viral sequence database
#6If things described in this article are true, the the person running GISAID is a conman. WHO and other health orgs uses GISAID’s EpiFlu database to make a recommendation for which strains to use for next flu vaccines. Seems wild that an org ran by a conman has such an impact on the healthcare worldwide.
Re: The “invented persona” behind the GISAID viral sequence database
#7It's interesting that a person without any background in biology (Peter Bogner) was able to start a sequence database that has now become critical infrastructure for public health. But it seems like GISAID has outgrown his ability to lead it, and it would be good to transition to more responsible leadership.
It is because the person is evidently a con-man.
So it is not as much "interesting" but "illuminating" that supposedly smart people like scientists can be just as easily mislead as the random person responding to an email scam.
Re: The “invented persona” behind the GISAID viral sequence database
#8What a weirdo. Unclear what sort of benefit he is extracting from this though, certainly not money. And if he wants attribution/fame so bad, why create a fake identity?
I am pretty sure these workshops [1] they host aren’t free to participate in.
[1] https://www.who.int/news/item/14-12-2022-gisaid-and-who-glob...
Re: The “invented persona” behind the GISAID viral sequence database
#9What a weirdo. Unclear what sort of benefit he is extracting from this though, certainly not money. And if he wants attribution/fame so bad, why create a fake identity?
I am pretty sure these workshops [1] they host aren’t free to participate in. [1] https://www.who.int/news/item/14-12-2022-gisaid-and-who-glob...
Millions of dollars flow to an organization headed by a convicted fraudster ... rest assured there are much more efficient ways to divert those funds than workshops
If anything the workshops are legit front.
Re: The “invented persona” behind the GISAID viral sequence database
#10I've seen women who do email support roles use an invented persona with a man's name. The one time I asked, the person explained that when they used their own name, they received a fair amount of unwanted attention which went away when they switched to a man's name.