David Baskin

Last updated

David S. Baskin
Education Swarthmore College
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Medical career
Field Neurosurgery

David S. Baskin is a neurosurgeon who currently[ as of? ] works at Houston Methodist Hospital as the vice chairman of its department of neurosurgery, the director of its residency training program, and the director of its Kenneth R. Peak Brain & Pituitary Tumor Center. He is also[ as of? ] a professor of neurosurgery at Weill Cornell Medical College. Baskin has falsely argued that the vaccine preservative thiomersal is unsafe and that there is a causal link between it and autism.

Contents

Education

Baskin has a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College, where he graduated with high honors, and a medical degree from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He completed his residency in neurosurgery at the University of California, San Francisco. [1]

Career

Baskin taught neurological surgery at Baylor College of Medicine from 1984 until 2005. In 2011, he published a clinical trial in the Journal of Clinical Oncology regarding the efficacy of a type of gene therapy for malignant glioma, the most common form of brain tumor. This trial concluded that the therapy was safe and that the survival trends were "encouraging." [2] [3] He became the director of the Peak Center upon its establishment in 2013. [4] In 2014, Baskin and his team conducted research regarding the use of nanosyringes[ definition needed ] to treat glioblastoma by filling them with anticancer drugs and releasing them into the bloodstream. [5]

Pseudoscientific research and claims

In 2002, Baskin appeared before the United States House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform. During the hearing, he stated that autism was worse than Alzheimer's disease, because, in his view, autistic children "never had a chance to enjoy life before they lost it." Baskin also labeled the thiomersal used as a vaccine preservative "poison" and claimed that ethylmercury (a component of thiomersal) was likely more neurotoxic than methylmercury. He also implied that there was a causal link between the addition of thiomersal to vaccines in the late 1930s and Leo Kanner's formal description of autism in the 1940s. [6] [7]

In 2003, Baskin co-authored a paper that claimed low-level exposure to thiomersal caused membrane and DNA damage, as well as caspase-3-dependent apoptosis, to human neurons and fibroblasts. [8] [9] In 2008, controversial nonprofit organization Autism Speaks awarded Baskin a grant to study cell proliferation in response to thiomersal exposure. [10] In 2013, Baskin co-authored two papers in which he claimed B cells from autistic children were more sensitive to thiomersal and environmental toxins than cells from age- and sex-matched controls. [11] [12]

It is scientific consensus that there is no link between any vaccine or vaccine ingredient and autism [13] [14] [15] and that the thiomersal used as a vaccine preservative is not harmful. [16] [17]

Awards and honors

Baskin has won the American Academy of Neurosurgery Award; the American College of Surgeons' Smith, Kline & French fellowship; the Wakeman Award for Research in the Neurosciences; and a distinguished alumni award from Mount Sinai School of Medicine. In 2000, he was elected to The Society of Neurological Surgeons. [18]

References

  1. ↑ "David S. Baskin". Archived from the original on May 15, 2015. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
  2. ↑ Chiocca, E. A.; Aguilar, L. K.; Bell, S. D.; Kaur, B.; Hardcastle, J.; Cavaliere, R.; McGregor, J.; Lo, S.; Ray-Chaudhuri, A.; Chakravarti, A.; Grecula, J.; Newton, H.; Harris, K. S.; Grossman, R. G.; Trask, T. W.; Baskin, D. S.; Monterroso, C.; Manzanera, A. G.; Aguilar-Cordova, E.; New, P. Z. (2011). "Phase IB Study of Gene-Mediated Cytotoxic Immunotherapy Adjuvant to Up-Front Surgery and Intensive Timing Radiation for Malignant Glioma". Journal of Clinical Oncology. 29 (27): 3611–3619. doi:10.1200/JCO.2011.35.5222. PMC   3179270 . PMID   21844505.
  3. ↑ "Novel suicide gene therapy combined with standard treatment treats malignant brain tumors". Your Houston News. August 18, 2011. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  4. ↑ Kimrey, Jennifer (September 27, 2013). "New treatment facility named". Houston Chronicle . Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  5. ↑ Turner, Allan (March 21, 2014). "Philanthropy keeps wheels of research turning". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2014.
  6. ↑ Burton, Dan (May 2003). "Mercury in Medicine: Taking Unnecessary Risks" (PDF). pp. 15–16. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 21, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Vaccines and the Autism Epidemic: Reviewing the Federal Government's Track Record and Charting a Course for the Future". United States Congress . December 10, 2002. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  8. ↑ Baskin, D. S.; Ngo, H.; Didenko, V. V. (2003). "Thimerosal Induces DNA Breaks, Caspase-3 Activation, Membrane Damage, and Cell Death in Cultured Human Neurons and Fibroblasts". Toxicological Sciences. 74 (2): 361–368. doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfg126. PMC   1892749 . PMID   12773768.
  9. ↑ Palta, Rina (March 1, 2004). "Searching for the Missing Link". Mother Jones . Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  10. ↑ Rudy, Lisa Jo (September 23, 2008). "Autism Speaks Announces Grants to Study Environmental Risks for Autism". About.com . Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  11. ↑ Sharpe, Martyn A.; Gist, Taylor L.; Baskin, David S. (2013). "B-Lymphocytes from a Population of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Unaffected Siblings Exhibit Hypersensitivity to Thimerosal". Journal of Toxicology. 2013 801517. doi: 10.1155/2013/801517 . PMC   3697751 . PMID   23843785.
  12. ↑ Sharpe, Martyn A.; Gist, Taylor L.; Baskin, David S. (2013). "Alterations in Sensitivity to Estrogen, Dihydrotestosterone, and Xenogens in B-Lymphocytes from Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Their Unaffected Twins/Siblings". Journal of Toxicology. 2013 159810. doi: 10.1155/2013/159810 . PMC   3836453 . PMID   24363669.
  13. ↑ "The Evidence on Vaccines and Autism | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health". Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health . March 19, 2025. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Vaccines and Autism | Children's Hospital of Philadelphia". Children's Hospital of Philadelphia . Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Autism | immunizecanada". Immunize Canada. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Vaccine Ingredients: Thimerosal". Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Vaccine Education Center. June 1, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Fact Checked: Extensive Research Shows Thimerosal is Safe". American Academy of Pediatrics. July 15, 2025. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Dr. David Baskin". Society of Neurological Surgeons. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2013.
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