Sheldon Krimsky (February 18, 1942 – April 25, 2022) was a professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
, and adjunct professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at
Tufts University School of Medicine
The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a Private university, private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in downto ...
. He was a fellow of the
Hastings Center
The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan bioethics research institute and think tank based in Garrison, New York. It was instrumental in establishing the field of bioethics and is among the most prestigious bioethics and health policy i ...
, an independent
bioethics
Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, med ...
research institution.
Krimsky received his bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus.
Being New York City's first publ ...
and
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
respectively, and a masters and doctorate in philosophy at
Boston University
Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...
.
Work
''Science in the Private Interest''
In his 2003 book ''Science in the Private Interest'', Krimsky argues that conflicts of interests are perceived and regulated very differently in public affairs and in science:
The prophylactic measures that are taken to prevent conflict of interest in public affairs are considered irrelevant in science precisely because scientists view themselves as participating in a higher calling than that of public officials—namely, the pursuit of objective knowledge. While senior public officials (elected or appointed) are prohibited from managing their portfolios during their tenure in office, scientists with patents and equity in companies that fund their research are at most simply asked to disclose their interests.
Krimsky raises the concern that conflicts of interest may compromise the scientific norm of "disinterestedness", which "requires that scientists apply the methods, perform the analysis, and execute the interpretation of results without considerations of personal gain, ideology, or fidelity to any cause other than the pursuit of truth." He claims that blurred boundaries between public interest science and pursuit of private gain have severely compromised the integrity of university science:
The evolving academic universe is no longer as nurturing an environment for public-interest science as it once was. To a large degree, universities have been taken over by money managers and academic entrepreneurs who are looking for financially lucrative research.
Krimsky argues that the profit motive has corrupted many scientists in biomedical research. He also proposes that the relationships between corporations, universities, and government agencies have resulted in biased science that puts human health and environment at risk. He has written and commented on
genetically modified food
Genetically modified foods (GM foods), also known as genetically engineered foods (GE foods), or bioengineered foods are foods produced from organisms that have had changes introduced into their DNA using the methods of genetic engineering. Gene ...
s,
water fluoridation
Water fluoridation is the controlled adjustment of fluoride to a public water supply solely to reduce tooth decay. Fluoridated water contains fluoride at a level that is effective for preventing cavities; this can occur naturally or by adding ...
,
environmental health
Environmental health is the branch of public health concerned with all aspects of the natural and built environment affecting human health. In order to effectively control factors that may affect health, the requirements that must be met in ...
,
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
, and other controversial topics.
Editorial and advisory positions
*''
Accountability in Research'' - Associate Editor
"Krimsky's Bio"
Tufts University, Accessed June 17, 2009.
*''Science, Technology, & Human Values
''Science, Technology, & Human Values'' (''ST&HV'') is a peer-reviewed academic journal that covers research on the relationship of science and technology with society. The journal's editor-in-chief is Edward J. Hackett ( Arizona State University ...
'' - Editorial Advisory Board Member
*'' Journal of BioLaw and Business'' - Life Sciences Advisory Board Member
*''Human Gene Therapy'' - former Advisory Board Member
*''New Genetics and Society
''New Genetics and Society'' is a triannual peer-reviewed scientific journal covering sociological perspectives on contemporary genetics and related biological sciences. It was established in 1999 by Peter Glasner and Harry Rothman, with its first ...
'' - International Editorial Board Member
*'' Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy'' - Editorial Board Member
*Council for Responsible Genetics
The Council for Responsible Genetics (CRG) was a nonprofit NGO with a focus on biotechnology.
History
The Council for Responsible Genetics was founded in 1983 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
An early voice concerned about the social and ethical ...
(publishing ''GeneWatch'') - Chair, Board of Directors
*'' International Journal of Environmental Technology & Management'' - Editorial Board Member
*Public Library of Science
PLOS (for Public Library of Science; PLoS until 2012 ) is a nonprofit publisher of open-access journals in science, technology, and medicine and other scientific literature, under an open-content license. It was founded in 2000 and launc ...
- Member, Medicine Advisory Group on Competing Interests and Publication Ethics
*National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
- former member (1978–1981), Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee
* - former consultant
*Congressional Office of Technology Assessment
The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) was an office of the United States Congress that operated from 1974 to 1995. OTA's purpose was to provide congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scien ...
- former consultant
*American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
- former chair (1988–1992), Committee on Scientific Freedom and Responsibility
* Hastings Center on Bioethics - fellow
*American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership includes over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations.
The AAUP's stated mission is ...
- member, Committee A
*American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
- member of a study panel that formulated a policy on civil liberties and scientific research
Publications
Books
*Sheldon Krimsky. "Conflicts of Interest In Science: How Corporate-Funded Academic Research Can Threaten Public Health". (Hot Books, February 12, 2019) 400pp. .
*Sheldon Krimsky. ''Stem Cell Dialogues: A Philosophical and Scientific Inquiry Into Medical Frontiers''. (Columbia University Press, June 23, 2015) 280pp. .
*
*Sheldon Krimsky. ''Hormonal Chaos: The Scientific and Social Origins of the Environmental Endocrine Hypothesis'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000) 252pp.
*Sheldon Krimsky. ''Biotechnics and Society: The Rise of Industrial Genetics'' (Praeger, 1991),
*Sheldon Krimsky. ''Genetic Alchemy: The Social History of the Recombinant DNA Controversy''. (MIT Press, 1982)
Co-authored books
*Sheldon Krimsky and Marion Nestle. "GMOs Decoded: A Skeptic's View of Genetically Modified Foods (Food, Health, and the Environment)". (MIT Press, March 12, 2019) 216pp. .
*''Agricultural Biotechnology and the Environment: Science, Policy and Social Values'' (University of Illinois, 1996)
*''Environmental Hazards: Communicating Risks as a Social Process'' (Auburn House, 1988)
*
Co-edited books
*Sheldon Krimsky and Jeremy Gruber (Editors). "The GMO Deception: What You Need to Know about the Food, Corporations, and Government Agencies Putting Our Families and Our Environment at Risk". (Skyhorse, April 12, 2016) 440pp. .
*''Rights and Liberties in the Biotech Age: Why We Need a Genetic Bill of Rights'' (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005)
*''Social Theories of Risk'' (Praeger, 1992)
See also
* Mark Diesendorf
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krimsky, Sheldon
1942 births
2022 deaths
Tufts University faculty
Hastings Center Fellows
Philosophy of science
American ethicists
Bioethicists
Boston University alumni
Brooklyn College alumni
Graduate Center, CUNY alumni
Purdue University alumni