Trial By Error: Berkeley Crowdfunding Month, Coronavirus Edition

By David Tuller, DrPH

Well, it’s that time of year again, and it can’t be avoided–even in a pandemic. As many of you know, my ongoing investigation of bad research into ME, CFS, so-called “medically unexplained symptoms,” etc., conducted under the “Trial By Error” name on Virology Blog, is my project as a UC Berkeley public health academic researcher and journalist–even though Virology Blog itself is hosted by Columbia University microbiology professor Vincent Racaniello.

To support the project, I have crowdfunded for the last two years on Berkeley’s own platform. The tax-deductible (to US taxpayers at least) donations go to the Center for Global Public Health, which is part of Berkeley’s School of Public Health. The funding covers my salary and benefits; none of it comes to me directly.

Because of the current situation, Berkeley has shortened its annual April crowdfunding campaign and is planning a bigger one for next October, when hopefully overall conditions will be somewhat improved. That means I will crowdfund twice this year for the “Trial By Error” project instead of once.

It goes without saying that I appreciate any support, large or small. Here’s the link: https://crowdfund.berkeley.edu/project/20159