Children's Medical Safety Research Institute

The Children's Medical Safety Research Institute (CMSRI) was a United States based anti-vaccination group which funded a number of pseudoscientific[1] studies, notably by Christopher Shaw of the University of British Columbia, and his collaborator Lucija Tomljenovic, and by Christopher Exley of Keele University,[2] which purport to link aluminium in vaccines to autism. The studies have been rejected by the World Health Organization[3] and some have been retracted.[4] A claimed "vaccinated vs. unvaccinated" cohort study has also been debunked.[5]

The claimed link between vaccines and autism has been extensively investigated and shown to be false.[6] The scientific consensus is that there is no relationship, causal or otherwise, between vaccines and incidence of autism,[6][7][8] and vaccine ingredients do not cause autism.[9]

History

The group was founded by Claire Dwoskin and funded by her and her husband Albert via their Dwoskin Family Foundation. It was wound up in 2018 citing the Dwoskins' divorce. Albert Dwoskin repudiated the group's activities, saying: "After seeing a great deal of evidence, I have concluded that concerns about the safety of vaccination are unfounded [...] The best way to protect children is to make sure they have all their vaccinations as recommended by scientists, doctors and other healthcare professionals."[10]

Exley initially declared no conflict of interest despite being funded by CSMRI, but a formal correction was issued in November 2019.[11] Following the winding up of CSMRI, Exley also lost funding from the UK's research councils, and was blocked from raising funds via GoFundMe citing a policy against use of the platform for anti-vaccination activism.[12]

Controversial Israeli immunologist Yehuda Shoenfeld, originator of the disproven[13] Autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants hypothesis, served on the scientific review board.[14]

References
  1. Quan, Douglas (2017-11-01). "UBC journal retraction raises controversial question: Can an activist be a scientist?". National Post. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  2. "Move over, Christopher Shaw, there's a new antivaccine scientist in town". sciencebasedmedicine.org. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  3. "UBC stands behind vaccine studies discredited by WHO". Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  4. "Two (now retracted) studies purporting to show that vaccinated children are sicker than unvaccinated children show nothing of the sort". sciencebasedmedicine.org. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  5. "'First Ever' Study Comparing Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Children Shows Harm from Vaccines?". Snopes.com. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  6. Taylor LE, Swerdfeger AL, Eslick GD (June 2014). "Vaccines are not associated with autism: an evidence-based meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies". Vaccine. 32 (29): 3623–9. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.04.085. PMID 24814559.
  7. Bonhoeffer J, Heininger U (June 2007). "Adverse events following immunization: perception and evidence" (PDF). Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases. 20 (3): 237–46. doi:10.1097/QCO.0b013e32811ebfb0. PMID 17471032. S2CID 40669829.
  8. Boseley S (February 2, 2010). "Lancet retracts 'utterly false' MMR paper". The Guardian. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
  9. "Vaccines Do Not Cause Autism Concerns". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2018-12-12. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  10. Kucinich, Jackie (2019-06-20). "Dem MegaDonor Pulls Funding From Anti-Vax Group, Regrets Involvement". Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  11. Exley, Christopher; Mold, Matthew J. (2019-12-01). "Correction to: Aluminium in human brain tissue: how much is too much?". Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry. 24 (8): 1283. doi:10.1007/s00775-019-01722-w. ISSN 1432-1327. PMID 31748978.
  12. Jonathan Leake, Shanti Das and (2019-04-07). "Funding halted for Professor Chris Exley, who links vaccines to autism". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  13. Ameratunga, Rohan; Gillis, David; Gold, Michael; Linneberg, Allan; Elwood, J. Mark (2017-11-01). "Evidence Refuting the Existence of Autoimmune/Autoinflammatory Syndrome Induced by Adjuvants (ASIA)". The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. 5 (6): 1551–1555.e1. doi:10.1016/j.jaip.2017.06.033. ISSN 2213-2198. PMID 28888842.
  14. Kupferschmidt, Kai (2019-11-06). "Top Israeli immunologist accused of promoting antivaccine views". Retrieved 2020-01-10.
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