Jane El-Dahr

El-Dahr has primarily researched children's allergies to certain substances, such as corn and mold, and she has also researched respiratory conditions reported in areas impacted by Hurricane Katrina.^[4][5][1][6]

In 2001, El-Dahr gave a presentation before the Institute of Medicine, falsely suggesting a link between thimerosal (a preservative used in some vaccines^[7]) and autism.^[8] More specifically, she has argued that thimerosal causes autism through two separate mechanisms: direct neurotoxicity, and, more indirectly, by causing immune problems.^{[9][unreliable fringe source?]} In the 2006 book Understanding Autism for Dummies, El-Dahr falsely speculated that thimerosal in vaccines contributed to mercury poisoning and that autistic children were "canaries in the coal mine" due to an allegedly reduced capacity to eliminate it.^[10] In 2004, El-Dahr co-authored a paper that suggested a link between the MMR vaccine and autism,^[11] echoing fraudulent claims originally made in 1998 by anti-vaccine activist Andrew Wakefield.^[12][13] The paper's co-authors included Wakefield, Andrew Anthony (a pathologist who had previously provided Wakefield with patient data^[14]) and anti-vaccine activists^{[15][16][17][18]} Jeff Bradstreet, James B. Adams and Jerry Kartzinel. It is scientific consensus that there is no link, causal or otherwise, between vaccines (including those containing thimerosal) and autism.^{[19][13][20][21]}

In 2009, El-Dahr co-authored two papers with Adams, Bradstreet and others, falsely suggesting that chelation therapy was a safe and effective treatment for some autistic children.^{[22][23][24][unreliable fringe source?]} El-Dahr made similar claims in Understanding Autism for Dummies and provided a step-by-step guide for preparing a child for chelation.^[25] Chelation therapy has never been proven effective to treat autism and has sometimes resulted in death or other serious complications when improperly administered to autistic children.^[26][27][28]

El-Dahr has an autistic son, who was 15 years old in 2010.^[29][30] Her father was a general pediatrician, and often made house calls after picking her up from school while she sat in the car and did homework.^[2]