Biography:Jane El-Dahr

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Short description: American immunologist

Jane Maroney El-Dahr is a clinical professor of pediatrics and the head of the division of pediatric allergy and immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine, where she has worked since 1990. She is also the president of the Louisiana Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.[1] She specializes in the study of allergies, immunology, and rheumatology.[2] El-Dahr has promoted discredited theories about the causes and treatments of autism (including falsely claiming that there is a causal link between vaccines and autism and falsely promoting chelation therapy as an effective autism treatment). She has co-authored papers with prominent anti-vaccine activists, including Andrew Wakefield.

Education

El-Dahr attended Jefferson Medical College, completed both her residency and her fellowship at the University of Virginia Health Science Center, and completed an internship at Yale New Haven Hospital in 1986.[3]

Research

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]

Pseudoscientific claims

Vaccines and autism

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El-Dahr co-authored a paper that suggested a link between the MMR vaccine and autism,[11] echoing fraudulent claims originally made in 1998 by anti-vaccine activist Andrew Wakefield.[12][13] The paper's co-authors included Wakefield, Andrew Anthony (a pathologist who had previously provided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]

Chelation therapy as a treatment for autism

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]

Personal life

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]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Simon, Fran (30 November 2005). "Coughing? Blame Dust, Not Katrina". Tulane University website. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131202233216/http://www.tulink.library.tulane.net/news/newwave/113005_coughing_blame_dust_not_katrina.cfm?RenderForPrint=1. Retrieved 26 November 2013. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Burley, Taylor (August 2012). "JANE EL-DAHR / Allergy and Immunology, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology and Pediatric Rheumatology". Myneworleans.com. http://www.myneworleans.com/New-Orleans-Magazine/August-2012/JANE-EL-DAHR-Allergy-and-Immunology-Pediatric-Allergy-and-Immunology-and-Pediatric-Rheumatology/. Retrieved 26 November 2013. 
  3. ↑ Jane El Dahr Biography
  4. ↑ "Faculty | MedMaps". 7 April 2020. http://www.medmaps.org/faculty/. 
  5. ↑ Victory, Joy (5 November 2005). "Some Hurricane Survivors Develop 'Katrina Cough'". ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=1282590. 
  6. ↑ Mitchell, H.; Cohn, R. D.; Wildfire, J.; Thornton, E.; Kennedy, S.; El-Dahr, J. M.; Chulada, P. C.; Mvula, M. M. et al. (2012). "Implementation of Evidence-based Asthma Interventions in Post-Katrina New Orleans: The Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL) Study". Environmental Health Perspectives 120 (11): 1607–1612. doi:10.1289/ehp.1104242. PMID 22894795. Bibcode: 2012EnvHP.120.1607M. 
  7. ↑ "Thiomersal" (in en). https://www.who.int/teams/health-product-policy-and-standards/standards-and-specifications/norms-and-standards/vaccine-standardization/thiomersal. 
  8. ↑ El-Dahr, Jane Maroney (2001-07-16). "Biologic Plausibility of the Hypothesis that Autism is a Unique Type of Mercury Poisoning". http://www.nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Activity%20Files/PublicHealth/ImmunizationSafety/ElDahr.pdf. 
  9. ↑ Kirby, David (2006). Evidence of Harm. St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 142. ISBN 9780312326456. https://archive.org/details/evidenceofharmme00kirb_0. 
  10. ↑ Shore, Stephen M.; Rastelli, Linda G. (2006). Understanding autism for dummies. --For dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. pp. 124–126. ISBN 978-0-7645-2547-6. 
  11. ↑ Bradstreet, J.J.; El Dahr, J.; Anthony, A.; Kartzinel, J.J.; Wakefield, A.J. (Summer 2004). "Detection of Measles Virus Genomic RNA in Cerebrospinal Fluid of Children with Regressive Autism: a Report of Three Cases". Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 9 (2): 38–45. https://www.jpands.org/vol9no2/bradstreet.pdf. 
  12. ↑ Lindsay, Peter (2021-01-01). "Books: long read: The Doctor Who Fooled The World. Andrew Wakefield's War On Vaccines: I Looked on Immunisation as an Example of Modern Living and Progress… and Then Came Andrew Wakefield". The British Journal of General Practice: The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 71 (702): 34–35. doi:10.3399/bjgp21X714557. ISSN 1478-5242. PMID 33372095. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Vaccines and Autism | Children's Hospital of Philadelphia" (in en). https://www.chop.edu/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-safety/vaccines-and-other-conditions/autism. 
  14. ↑ "Fresh dispute about MMR 'fraud'" (in en-US). 2011-11-09. https://www.whistleblowers.org/news/fresh-dispute-about-mmr-fraud/. 
  15. ↑ Grant, Bob (2015-06-30). "Anti-Vax Doctor Found Dead" (in en). https://www.the-scientist.com/anti-vax-doctor-found-dead-35239. 
  16. ↑ Stuart, Elizabeth (2016-04-25). "ASU Autism Professor Promotes Anti-Vaccine Film Despite Doctors' Protests" (in en). https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/asu-autism-professor-promotes-anti-vaccine-film-despite-doctors-protests-8241429. 
  17. ↑ "Jenny McCarthy Tackles Autism Head-On - CBS News" (in en-US). 2009-04-02. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jenny-mccarthy-tackles-autism-head-on/. 
  18. ↑ "Excerpt: 'Healing and Preventing Autism: A Complete Guide'" (in en). 2009-03-31. https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/story?id=7222329&page=1. 
  19. ↑ "The Evidence on Vaccines and Autism | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health" (in en). 2025-03-19. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-evidence-on-vaccines-and-autism. 
  20. ↑ "Autism and Vaccines" (in en-us). 2024-12-30. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/about/autism.html. 
  21. ↑ "Autism | immunizecanada" (in en). https://www.immunize.ca/resources/89. 
  22. ↑ Adams, J. B.; Baral, M.; Geis, E.; Mitchell, J.; Ingram, J.; Hensley, A.; Zappia, I.; Newmark, S. et al. (2009). "Safety and efficacy of oral DMSA therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders: Part A - Medical results". BMC Clinical Pharmacology 9. doi:10.1186/1472-6904-9-16. PMID 19852789. 
  23. ↑ Adams, J. B.; Baral, M.; Geis, E.; Mitchell, J.; Ingram, J.; Hensley, A.; Zappia, I.; Newmark, S. et al. (2009). "Safety and efficacy of oral DMSA therapy for children with autism spectrum disorders: Part B - Behavioral results". BMC Clinical Pharmacology 9. doi:10.1186/1472-6904-9-17. PMID 19852790. 
  24. ↑ "Chelation Therapy Drug Found Safe and Beneficial for Children With Autism". Autism Research Institute. 5 November 2009. https://www.reuters.com/article/2009/11/05/idUS117937+05-Nov-2009+PRN20091105. Retrieved 16 December 2013. 
  25. ↑ Shore, Stephen M.; Rastelli, Linda G. (2006). Understanding autism for dummies. --For dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. pp. 125–128. ISBN 978-0-7645-2547-6. 
  26. ↑ "What Is Chelation Therapy & What Does It Treat?" (in en). https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/chelation-therapy. 
  27. ↑ "Be Aware of Potentially Dangerous Products and Therapies that Claim to Treat Autism" (in en). 2023-11-06. https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/be-aware-potentially-dangerous-products-and-therapies-claim-treat-autism. 
  28. ↑ Lagan, Niamh C.; Balfe, Joanne (2018-07-14). "Question 2: Does heavy metal chelation therapy improve the symptoms of autism spectrum disorder". Archives of Disease in Childhood 103 (9): 910–911. doi:10.1136/archdischild-2018-315338. ISSN 1468-2044. PMID 30007948. 
  29. ↑ Pieces of the Puzzle. Autism Research Institute. 4 March 2009.
  30. ↑ Urbaszewski, Katie (2010-05-10). "Local baseball league gives special needs children the opportunity to hit a home run". http://www.nola.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/05/local_baseball_league_gives_sp.html. 



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