Liesbeth Aerts

On Wednesday November 20th, 2024, Els left home early in the morning, as she always did. She got on her bike, ready for another busy but exciting day at Hasselt University. The preparations for Dag van de Wetenschap were in full swing. A yearly highlight on the calendar, she had poured herself into the preparations for weeks.

When Elisabeth Stes stepped away from the lab, she did not walk away from science. A trained biotechnologist with a PhD, she carried her research mindset with her and built a new career in science communication, first at a public research institute, and now at a leading pharmaceutical company. 

How can we balance the exposure of misconduct with the preservation of public trust? It’s not a new question, but it’s one I’ve been reflecting on more intensely in recent months as a controversy erupted in a field I’ve followed for years: Alzheimer’s research. The spark was Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer’s, a book published earlier this year by investigative journalist Charles Piller.