Trial by Error, Continued: My Letter to the University of Bristol

By David Tuller, DrPH This morning I e-mailed the following letter to Sue Paterson, the University of Bristol’s Director of Legal Services and Deputy University Secretary, to protest Professor Esther Crawley’s accusation that I libeled her in blogging about her work. I cc’d the office of the university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Hugh Brady. ********** Dear Ms. Paterson: I have recently learned that Professor Esther Crawley of the University of Bristol’s Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, in her inaugural lecture on February 24th of this year, accused me of libel. During her talk, she showed a slide with the phrase “libellous blogs,” accompanied by a screen shot of one of my blog posts on Virology Blog. While that slide was on the screen, she also mentioned “libellous blogs,” obviously referring to the Virology Blog post, among others. This libel accusation is false. Given that Professor Crawley made this unsupported charge in such a high-profile academic setting, I felt that it was important to bring the matter to your attention and express my surprise and displeasure. (I have also cc’d the office of the university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Hugh Brady.) Virology Blog is a well-regarded science site hosted by Professor Vincent Racaniello, a prominent virologist at Columbia University. (I have also cc’d Professor Racaniello.) For the last year and a half, I have been writing an investigative series for Virology Blog called “Tr...
Source: virology blog - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs