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How a Ph.D. turned influencer combats misinfo online

October 1, 2025

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Morgan McSweeney — who has a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences and innovation — got frustrated by the misinformation he was seeing online. So he named himself Dr. Noc and joined the fray. Today, more than 4 million people across social media platforms follow him for his engaging, evidence-based content about health, from how urine is made to why people should be skeptical about links between Tylenol use in pregnancy and autism.

"It would be really, really easy if my goal is to get as big numbers as I can and as many followers and as much reach," he said on the first episode of the new season of the First Opinion Podcast. "What I would do is speak passionately to people who already agree with me, really rile them up about the other side. The problem … is you're not changing people's minds at that point, you're just making them emotionally engaged."

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