Friday May 22, 2026 Gold
Circle: What exactly is your go to Dunkin Order?
Why we do research: In 1998, a paper published in the medical journal The Lancet by Andrew Wakefield and colleagues suggested a possible link between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine and autism. The study only involved 12 children, but it received enormous media attention and became the foundation of the modern anti-vaccine movement.
The paper was later fully retracted because investigations found serious ethical and scientific misconduct, including:
- Falsified or altered patient data
- Undisclosed financial conflicts of interest
- Children being recruited through lawyers preparing lawsuits
- Invasive procedures done without proper ethical approval
- Misrepresentation of how subjects were selected for the study
The UK General Medical Council concluded Wakefield acted dishonestly and irresponsibly, and he lost his medical license.
Since then, many large studies involving hundreds of thousands of children have found no credible link between the MMR vaccine and autism.
Activity: Continue to work on Annotated Bibliography. This needs to be submitted on Friday.
Coming Up: One minute presentations about your research and hypothesis.
