James Lyons-Weiler
{{Short description|American scientist}}
{{Infobox scientist
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| name = James F. Lyons-Weiler
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| nationality = American
| fields = Ecology
| workplaces = {{hlist|Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge|University of Pittsburgh}}
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| alma_mater = University of Nevada, Reno
| thesis_title = Data exploration and hypothesis testing in statistical and computational phylogenetic systematics
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| thesis_year = 1998
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}}
James Lyons-Weiler (born July 4, 1967) is an American scientist and activist who operates the non-profit organization Institute for Pure and Applied Knowledge.{{cite news |last1=Montesano |first1=Nicole |title=County COVID resolution comes under attack from residents |url=https://newsregister.com/article?articleTitle=county-covid-resolution-comes-under-attack-from-residents--1608064026--38914-- |access-date=26 February 2023 |work=News-Register |language=en}} His doctorate is in ecology, evolution and conservation biology.{{Cite web |date=2005-10-14 |title=University of Pittsburgh s James Lyons-Weiler on Using Better Statistics for Proteomics Experiments |url=https://www.genomeweb.com/proteomics/university-pittsburgh-s-james-lyons-weiler-using-better-statistics-proteomics-ex |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202191301/https://www.genomeweb.com/proteomics/university-pittsburgh-s-james-lyons-weiler-using-better-statistics-proteomics-ex |archive-date=2022-12-02 |website=GenomeWeb}} He was a University of Pittsburgh faculty member (2003-2009) and a member of the Early Detection Research Network through the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.{{Cite web |title=Lyons-Weiler, James |url=https://edrn.nci.nih.gov/about-edrn/sites/65-university-of-pittsburgh-cancer-institute/lyons-weiler-james/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240807165703/https://edrn.nci.nih.gov/about-edrn/sites/65-university-of-pittsburgh-cancer-institute/lyons-weiler-james/ |archive-date=2024-08-07 |access-date=2024-08-07 |website=Early Detection Research Network}}
History
Lyons-Weiler worked as an assistant professor and co-director of the Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at the University of Massachusetts Lowell from 2000-2002. He then served as faculty at the University of Pittsburgh from 2003-2009.
Controversies
Lyons-Weiler has been making numerous claims about COVID-19, and about vaccines in general for years.{{Cite news |last=Barrett |first=Malachi |date=2021-05-07 |title=Michigan activists boost 'experts' to justify anti-vaccine stance. Health officials say their science doesn't hold up. |language=en |work=MLive.com |url=https://www.mlive.com/politics/2021/05/michigan-activists-boost-experts-to-justify-anti-vaccine-stance-health-officials-say-their-science-doesnt-hold-up.html |access-date=2021-08-07}}{{Cite web |last1=McDonald |first1=Jessica |last2=Jaramillo |first2=Catalina |date=January 22, 2021|title=Viral Video Makes False and Unsupported Claims About Vaccines |url=https://www.factcheck.org/2021/01/viral-video-makes-false-and-unsupported-claims-about-vaccines/ |access-date=September 16, 2024|website=FactCheck.org |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=December 18, 2020|first=Jon |last=Greenberg |title=Video shared on Facebook inflates risk of Moderna vaccine 40-fold |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2020/dec/18/blog-posting/video-shared-facebook-inflates-risk-moderna-vaccin/ |access-date=September 16, 2024 |website=PolitiFact |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |last=Stinelli |first=Mick |date=2021-01-29 |title=Parties give closing statements in Crack'd Egg closure case |language=en |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2021/01/29/crackd-egg-restaurant-covid-coronavirus-closure-rules-allegheny-county-health-department-brentwood-lawsuit/stories/202101290147 |access-date=2021-08-07}}
He claimed in February 2020 that a specific genetic sequence INS1378 in the SARS-CoV-2 genome was sufficiently close to pShuttle-SN - an engineered sequence - to prove that the virus was probably engineered in a laboratory. This claim was repeatedly discredited by researchers and fact-checkers.{{Cite web |date=February 10, 2020 |first=Flora |last=Teoh |title=2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) does not contain "pShuttle-SN" sequence; no evidence that virus is man-made |url=https://science.feedback.org/review/2019-novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-does-not-contain-pshuttle-sn-sequence-no-evidence-that-virus-is-man-made/ |access-date=September 16, 2024 |website=Science Feedback |publisher=Health Feedback |language=en-US }} The sequences were only 67% similar and one paper demonstrated that over 100 bat coronaviruses had closer matches to INS1378 than pShuttle-SN. The even more inaccurate claim that SARS-CoV-2 contained pShuttle-SN was, however, spread widely by Infowars and others.
His WordPress blog, Science, Public Health Policy and the Law claims to be a scientific journal, with an advisory board consisting of three other prominent anti-vaccine personalities.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://jameslyonsweiler.com/}}
- {{Google Scholar id|zmKO56wAAAAJ}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyons-Weiler, James F.}}
Category:American anti-vaccination activists
Category:COVID-19 conspiracy theorists
Category:University of Nevada, Reno alumni
Category:University of Pittsburgh faculty
Category:20th-century American zoologists
Category:Fringe science journals
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