David Vaux is a molecular biologist whose research focusses on the mechanism of cell death, the physiological process used to remove unwanted cells. He trained in medicine in Melbourne, Australia, and was a post-doc at Stanford in the US before returning to The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Australia. Apart from his research, he is interested in issues related to research integrity. He is a member of the Center for Scientific Integrity (NY), which acts as the board for Retraction Watch. He served on the Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in the Conduct of Science, a committee of the International Science Council. He has participated in most of the World Conferences in Research Integrity and gave the plenary speech at the 2010 meeting that produced the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity. He has encouraged journals to improve their policies on use of statistics and images, and their handling of concerns about possible errors. He is an associate member of the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE). A major current effort is to have Australia establish a national ombudsman or office for research integrity to replace the current self-regulation model.