Robert Root-Bernstein (born August 7, 1953) ( PhD,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

) is a professor of

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

at Michigan State University. In 1981, he was awarded a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

, commonly known as a "genius grant." He has also researched and consulted on

creativity Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed Literature ...

for more than fifteen years. Among other books, he has authored ''Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People'', ''Discovering: Inventing and Solving Problems at the Frontiers of Scientific Knowledge'', and ''Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus.'' In ''Rethinking AIDS'', Root-Bernstein postulated that factors in addition to

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

may contribute to AIDS. Root-Bernstein is a former member of the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS Hypothesis, a group of AIDS denialists. Root-Bernstein asserts that HIV, while involved in the development of AIDS, may be no more important than an accumulation of co-factors such as a history of poor nutrition, lack of hygiene, intravenous drug use, anal intercourse, as well as various infections and lifestyle diseases. In its April 2004 issue, ''POZ'' published a quote it attributed to Root-Bernstein: "Both the camp that says HIV is a pussycat and the people who claim AIDS is all HIV are wrong . . . The denialists make claims that are clearly inconsistent with existing studies. When I check the existing studies, I don’t agree with the interpretation of the data, or, worse, I can’t find the studies t all"

Books authored

* ''Discovering: Inventing and Solving Problems at the Frontiers of Science'', Harvard University Press, 1989. * ''Rethinking AIDS: The Tragic Cost of Premature Consensus'', Free Press, 1993, * (with Michèle Root-Bernstein) ''Honey, Mud, Maggots and Other Medical Marvels'', Houghton Mifflin, 1997. * (with Michèle Root-Bernstein) ''Sparks of Genius: The Thirteen Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People'', Houghton Mifflin, 1999.

References

External links

Root-Bernstein's faculty web site
at Michigan State University
Brief Biography

Creativity Blog at Psychology Today
{{DEFAULTSORT:Root-Bernstein, Robert 1953 births HIV/AIDS denialists Living people MacArthur Fellows Michigan State University faculty Princeton University alumni American physiologists