Assistant professor Nick Keiser has found a novel audience for his infectious disease knowledge: the heavy-metal music community. “As a scientist and metalhead,” explained Dr. Keiser, “I actively participate in two communities: one full of epidemiologists and public health experts, and the other full of musicians and music fans. It became immediately clear that myths and misinformation had begun to spread through the metal community, even being perpetuated by musicians promoting conspiracy theories to their thousands of followers. I realized that I could use my knowledge of heavy metal as a tool to spread information on COVID-19 and even teach some basic epidemiology.”
Dr. Keiser went to work, writing articles for a popular heavy-metal news website to teach some general epidemiology and dispel myths. Dr. Keiser also created playlists of disease-themed heavy metal songs and explained the connections between the music and COVID-19. “Lots of readers requested follow-up articles with more information,” said Dr. Keiser. “These may be the first heavy metal articles to contain glossaries and references sections!”
Check out Dr. Keiser’s playlists and metal-friendly articles on infectious disease:
Part I
Part II