Real Skeptic is maintained by Collin Maesssen who is a long time advocate of scientific skepticism and evidence based policies. He studied Software Engineering and works as a programmer for a Dutch firm. As such he is not a scientist and doesn’t publish research on the subjects covered by him. However his articles and YouTube videos cite the most up to date and best research as possible from the scientific literature. Where necessary he consults scientists and experts on the subjects he covers.

His interest in covering science, and countering pseudo-science, comes from his search to better understand the disease he has: X-ALD. The cause of this disease is a genetic mutation which can have severe neurological consequences. His search for a higher quality of life led to him reading the scientific literature. In combination with practical experience in dealing with the consequences the the Dutch patient support group NVACP recruited him as a volunteer. He’s also active in the Dutch X-ALD support group, which has strong ties to the Dutch medical research community. Currently he is still available as a volunteer but due to time constraints he isn’t as active any more. Nowadays he spends most of his available time creating content for Real Skeptic and his YouTube channel.

Collin Maessen volunteers time for Skeptical Science, but has no affiliations with other organisations or political groups.