Vaccines, Autism, Thimerosal, and Public Health

The Centers for Disease Control estimates the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder is one in sixty-eight children. Worldwide, an estimated seventy million people are affected by autism. If this number is accurate, it represents a ten-fold increase in autism in the last four decades.

What are the causes of autism? What is the science behind the Thimerosol theory? How is the safety of a vaccine monitored? Dr. Sweeny interviews several experts to find these answers and further explore autism, Thimerosal, and the myths and benefits associated with vaccines.

About Our Guests

Dr. Amanda Cohn is a pediatrician and a medical epidemiologist at the Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. She serves as CDC lead of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and she has written multiple updates for the meningococcal conjugate vaccine recommendations in the United States.

Dr. Jay Gargus is a Professor of Physiology & Biophysics, and Pediatrics at the UCI School of Medicine. He is the Director of Center for Autism Research and Translation at the UCI School of Medicine and is a world expert in the autism research, especially in the genetic basis for the condition.

Dr. Matthew Gribble, an environmental mercury expert, is an Environmental Epidemiologist and‬‬‬ Assistant Professor of Environmental Health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

Dr. Andrea Roberts is a respected professor at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research pertains to the epidemiology and potential causes of autism.

Dr. Paul Wang, a pediatrician and nationally recognized expert in autism, is the Senior Vice President for Medical Research at Autism Speaks, one of the largest organizations funding autism research around the world.