The Children's Medical Safety Research Institute (CMSRI) was a

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

based

anti-vaccination Anti-vaccine activism, which collectively constitutes the "anti-vax" movement, is a set of organized activities expressing opposition to vaccination, and these collaborating networks have often sought to increase vaccine hesitancy by dissem ...

group which funded a number of

pseudoscientific Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

studies, notably by Christopher Shaw of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

, and his collaborator Lucija Tomljenovic, and by Christopher Exley of

Keele University Keele University is a Public university#United Kingdom, public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, it was granted uni ...

, which purport to link aluminium in vaccines to autism. The studies have been rejected by the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

and some have been retracted. A claimed "vaccinated vs. unvaccinated" cohort study has also been debunked. The claimed link between

vaccines and autism Extensive investigation into vaccines and autism spectrum disorder has shown that there is no relationship between the two, causal or otherwise, and that vaccine ingredients do not cause autism. The American scientist Peter Hotez researched the ...

has been extensively investigated and shown to be false. The

scientific consensus Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time. Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at confer ...

is that there is no relationship, causal or otherwise, between vaccines and incidence of autism, and vaccine ingredients do not cause autism.

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." Exley initially declared no conflict of interest despite being funded by CSMRI, but a formal correction was issued in November 2019. Following the winding up of CSMRI, Exley also lost funding from the UK's research councils, and was blocked from raising funds via

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the ...

citing a policy against use of the platform for anti-vaccination activism. Controversial Israeli immunologist Yehuda Shoenfeld, originator of the disproven Autoimmune/inflammatory syndrome induced by adjuvants hypothesis, served on the scientific review board.

References

{{reflist Anti-vaccination in the United States Anti-vaccination organizations