Edward McSweegan
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Edward McSweegan is an American microbiologist, science writer and fiction author.


Education and early research

McSweegan earned his undergraduate biology degree from Boston College in 1978. He went on to earn two degrees in microbiology, a master's degree from the University of New Hampshire and a Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island. In 1984, McSweegan received a resident research associateship from the National Research Council, and he performed postdoctoral research at the Naval Medical Research Institute. He published research on the disease-causing mechanisms of the bacteria
Campylobacter jejuni ''Campylobacter jejuni'' is a species of pathogenic bacteria that is commonly associated with poultry, and is also often found in animal feces. This species of microbe is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in Europe and in the US, w ...
and
Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Enterotoxigenic ''Escherichia coli'' (ETEC) is a type of ''Escherichia coli'' and one of the leading bacterial causes of diarrhea in the developing world, as well as the most common cause of travelers' diarrhea. Insufficient data exists, but cons ...
.


Career

From 1986 to 1988, McSweegan was stationed at the
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
as an
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...
diplomacy fellow. At the State Department, he was involved in developing a science and technology pact between the United States and Poland. He helped negotiate additional agreements with Hungary and the former Soviet Union. In 1988, McSweegan joined the
National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...
's
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, ) is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. NIAID's mis ...
, and eventually became program officer for
Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne disease caused by species of ''Borrelia'' bacteria, Disease vector, transmitted by blood-feeding ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. It is the most common disease spread by ticks in th ...
. McSweegan was among a number of Lyme disease experts who were worried about the influence that an advocacy group was having over the NIH, some politicians, and the general public. The group, called Lyme Disease Foundation, promoted the belief in " chronic Lyme disease" and claimed that it required long-term, expensive, and unproven antibiotic treatments. The group was operated by two accountants, received funding from companies that sold intravenous antibiotics, and made claims that lacked scientific support. It also referred people with indeterminate symptoms to chronic Lyme disease-believing doctors who would diagnose them, even though evidence indicated most did not have Lyme disease. Beginning in 1995, McSweegan denounced the Lyme Disease Foundation in his personal time and continued to speak out against the group's influence on the NIH. The NIH eventually removed him from responsibilities, both related and unrelated to Lyme disease. The media characterized the NIH's actions as retaliation for McSweegan blowing the whistle on NIH mismanagement. In 1997, after noticing that his personal web site characterized the Lyme Disease Foundation as "whacko", the NIH suspended him for two weeks. However, the NIH's own lawyers felt there was no basis for firing him. The Lyme Disease Foundation later sued McSweegan for slander, but lost. McSweegan won a countersuit against them. Through the process, he continued to receive positive job reviews. The NIH said it reassigned him to a post as director of the U.S.-Indo Vaccine Action Program. McSweegan told ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' in 2003 that he did not know he was director of that program, and was instead assigned tasks better suited for an intern. Reports by the ''Post'' and
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
led
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
Chuck Grassley Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore of the United States Senate since 2025, a role he also held from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Re ...
, then the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, to demand that the NIH give McSweegan work. In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 19th United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005 in the Presidency of George W. Bush, cabinet of President of the United State ...
, Grassley questioned the NIH's uses of taxpayer money, saying it was unacceptable for the NIH to "come rattling a tin cup asking for more money" when it was forcing taxpayers to "pay for full-time novelists". The NIH promised to investigate the allegations. McSweegan has commented on diverse issues related to infectious disease. In 2004, McSweegan hypothesized that the mysterious " English sweating sickness" may have been an outbreak of
anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...
poisoning. He speculated that the victims could have been infected with anthrax spores present in raw wool or infected animal carcasses, and he suggested exhuming the victims for testing. He has also criticized the
Centers for Disease Control The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and is headquartered in Atlanta, ...
for investigating Morgellons, a proposed infectious condition whose existence is disputed by current
scientific consensus Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time. Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at confer ...
. Mcsweegan was detailed by the NIH to the Global Virus Network, where he became a program manager. There, he reported on a number of pathogens, including
Zika Zika fever, also known as Zika virus disease or simply Zika, is an infectious disease caused by the Zika virus. Most cases have no symptoms, but when present they are usually mild and can resemble dengue fever. Symptoms may include fever, conju ...
,
chikungunya Chikungunya is an infection caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV). The disease was first identified in 1952 in Tanzania and named based on the Kimakonde words for "to become contorted". Chikungunya has become a global health concern due to ...
, and
Hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection period, people often have mild or no symptoms. Early symptoms can include ...
. He worked at the Global Virus Network until 2018.


References


External links


Archive of McSweegan's site
{{DEFAULTSORT:McSweegan, Edward Living people American science writers American microbiologists Year of birth missing (living people)