In 2016, he attempted to gain funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to research "whether herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), which causes cold sores and can reach the brain, that might promote both amyloid plaques and tau tangles" but was rejected when the third funding reviewer criticized the proposed research as being a possible minor cause of Alzheimer's, Moir's lack of being a full professor and poor previous funding.