#143 - John Ioannidis, M.D., D.Sc.: Why most biomedical research is flawed, and how to improve it

ℹ️ EPISODE INFO

Released

January 4, 2021

Duration

1h 52m

Channel

Peter Attia MD

Watch on YouTube

▶ Open ↗

📝 EPISODE DESCRIPTION

John Ioannidis is a physician, scientist, writer, and a Stanford University professor who studies scientific research itself, a process known as meta-research. In this episode, John discusses his staggering finding that the majority of published research is actually incorrect. Using nutritional epidemiology as the poster child for irreproducible findings, John describes at length the factors that play into these false positive results and offers numerous insights into how science can course correct. We discuss: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:02:40 - John’s background, and the synergy of mathematics, science, and medicine 00:10:00 - Why most published research findings are false 00:19:30 - The bending of data to reach ‘statistical significance’, and the how bias impacts results 00:26:00 - The problem of power: How over- and under-powered studies lead to false positives 00:31:00 - Contrasting nutritional epidemiology with genetics research 00:38:45 - How to improve nutritional epidemiology and get more answers on efficacy 00:52:30 - How pre-existing beliefs impact science 01:03:45 - The antidote to questionable research practices infected with bias and bad incentive structures 01:12:00 - The different roles of public, private, and philanthropic sectors in funding high-risk research that asks the important questions 01:21:30 - Case studies demonstrating the challenge of epidemiology and how even the best studies can have major flaws 01:31:00 - Results of John’s study looking at the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2, and the resulting vitriol revealing the challenge of doing science in a hyper-politicized environment 01:47:45 - John’s excitement about the future Show notes page: https://peterattiamd.com/johnioannidis/ About: The Peter Attia Drive is a weekly, ultra-deep-dive podcast focusing on maximizing health, longevity, critical thinking…and a few other things. With over 30 million episodes downloaded, it features topics including fasting, ketosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, mental health, and much more. Peter is a physician focusing on the applied science of longevity. His practice deals extensively with nutritional interventions, exercise physiology, sleep physiology, emotional and mental health, and pharmacology to increase lifespan (delay the onset of chronic disease), while simultaneously improving healthspan (quality of life). Learn more: https://peterattiamd.com/ Subscribe to receive exclusive subscriber-only content: https://peterattiamd.com/subscribe/ Sign up to receive Peter's email newsletter: https://peterattiamd.com/newsletter/ Connect with Peter on: Facebook: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDFB Twitter: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDTW Instagram: http://bit.ly/PeterAttiaMDIG Subscribe to The Drive: Apple Podcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveApplePodcasts Overcast: http://bit.ly/TheDriveOvercast Spotify: http://bit.ly/TheDriveSpotify Google Play: http://bit.ly/TheDriveGooglePlay

🎤 SPEAKERS

• Peter Attia

  host

  Physician and host of The Drive podcast, focused on longevity and health.

• John Ioannidis

  guest

  Physician-scientist known for meta-research on biomedical evidence quality and epidemiology.

🧾 EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Peter Attia MD, featuring Peter Attia and John Ioannidis, #143 - John Ioannidis, M.D., D.Sc.: Why most biomedical research is flawed, and how to improve it explores ioannidis Explains Why Most Research Fails and Fixes Ioannidis explains his 2005 mathematical model showing that a nominally significant result (p just under 0.05) is more likely than not a false positive in most research settings, because of low prior odds, low power, bias, and many teams testing the same questions.

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