Vera K. Wilde
Data scientist and research methodologist. Heilbronn from October 2026.
Most screening programs look for something rare in a very large population. I work on what that does — to the people flagged wrongly, to the systems doing the flagging, and to the evidence we think we have about whether any of it helps.
Current
From October 2026, I am a research associate at the Heilbronn Data Science Center, TUM Heilbronn, with Prof. Paul Hünermund. This job also lets me pursue doctoral work in causal inference.
Through September 2026, I am a visiting researcher in Prof. Odette Wegwarth's risk literacy group at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
My research applies signal detection theory and structural causal modeling to mass screening for rare targets, with applications across security, medicine, and business.
Selected work
An LLM canary in the online data coalmine: Bayesian reasoning problems as a capability-gap test for LLM contamination in online samples Behavior Research Methods, accepted 2026. Accepted manuscript; data and code in the repository
Chat control: one law, two problems Internet Policy Review, September 2026
Rock, paper, statistics: Mass screening for rare problems endangers society Centre for Digital Governance, Hertie School
When mass security screening backfires Working paper, SSRN
Dubious science: Downplaying the risks of antidepressants in pregnancy Mad in America, December 2022
Shame, name, give up the game? Three approaches to uncertainty In Diagnoses Without Names: Challenges for Medical Care, Research, and Policy, eds. Lockshin, Crow & Barbhaiya. Springer, 2022
Neonatal jaundice and autism: Precautionary principle invocation overdue Cureus Journal of Medical Science, 2022
Breastfeeding insufficiencies: Common and preventable harm to neonates Cureus Journal of Medical Science, 2022
Dehumanization as a distinct form of prejudice With K. D. Martin & P. A. Goff. Testing, Psychometrics, Methodology in Applied Psychology, 21(3), 2014
Seeing colorblindness: Colorblind racial ideology in social psychology research methods With M. C. Jackson & P. A. Goff. In What Does It Mean to Be Color-Blind?, eds. Neville, Gallardo & Sue
PhD dissertation Department of Politics, University of Virginia, 2014
Tools and code
Rarity Roulette A tool for seeing what happens when you screen a large population for a rare problem
Equilibrium screening Structural causal models of screening systems solved in equilibrium
iBorderCtrl.NO Co-creator and scientific content producer. On the EU's AI deception-detection pilot at the border
Writing
Wilde Truth — essays on research methods, screening, and policy. Other essays, poetry, and reviews have appeared in the Guardian, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The Science Creative Quarterly, and elsewhere.
Elsewhere
wilde.k.vera@gmail.com
ORCID 0000-0002-6470-4109
GitHub
Bluesky