Can the Course of Science be Altered by Money? Conflicts of Interest: The Effects of Corporate Influence on Scientific Research

Who pays for scientific studies and what types of biases can the matter of this funding create? Professor Sheldon Krimsky, author of Conflicts of Interest In Science: How Corporate-Funded Academic Research Can Threaten Public Health, uses his more than 30 years of studying conflicts of interest in science to weigh in on the issue of corporate influence inside the world of science.

Listen to learn more about how corporate funding has impacted scientific research in the areas of:

• The risks of burning of coal and fossil fuels for energy
• Side effects of vaccines and other medications
• Tobacco product safety concerns

Sheldon is a Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tufts University and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Tufts University School of Medicine. In this revealing interview, he shines a bright light upon the matters of ethics vs science, the importance of environmental ethics, and the role of genetics in society today.

What type of role should public health and government really play in scientific advancement, research, and truth telling? Where should the line be firmly drawn between ethics and public policy? These are the kinds of important questions Sheldon has set out to answer along with the Hastings Center, an independent bioethics research institution of which he is a fellow.

Professor Krimsky discusses the fallout of the Bayh-Dole Act, the highs and lows of the scientific peer review process, the pros and cons of the government funding of scientific research, and the role of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director, Dr. Anthony Fauci, in the United States’ fight against the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information visit https://sites.tufts.edu/sheldonkrimsky/ Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK