Boyd Haley
Boyd Eugene Haley is an American anti-vaccine activist and retired professor of chemistry at the University of Kentucky.
Education and career
A native of Greensburg, Indiana, Haley graduated from its New Point High School in 1959. Four years later, he received a bachelor's degree from Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, and then entered a teaching fellowship at Howard University. Thereafter, he served as a U.S. Army medic for several years.In 1967, Haley obtained an M.S. degree from the University of Idaho. He then entered a doctoral program at Washington State University, where he worked "to make chemical modifications on ATP to try to identify how and exactly where ATP binds to cause muscle movement." In 1971, WSU granted him his Ph.D. degree in chemistry-biochemistry.
For three years, Haley served as a postdoctoral scholar at Yale University. From 1974 to 1985, he was a professor at the University of Wyoming. hereafter, he was appointed professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Kentucky, whose chemistry department he became chairperson of in 1997. He is now professor emeritus.
Basic research
In 1992, Haley and a colleague, upon examining cerebrospinal fluid, reported levels of glutamine synthetase considerably higher in cases of Alzheimer's disease than in a control group, and suggested that this could be a biomarker to aid diagnosis.In 2005, Haley reproduced findings of gold salt removing mercury from molecules, and inferred support for the possibility of gold salts removing mercury from biological proteins. Yet Haley noted that the gold salts could themselves be toxic, and called for the extreme caution before applying gold salts in medical treatment.
Thimerosal controversy
Haley argues that mercury exposure via dental amalgams and vaccinations may cause neurological impairments and diseases, such as autism and Alzheimer's disease. The United States [Public Health Service] and the American Dental Association reject these claims.Haley has appeared in court as an expert witness against vaccine manufacturers, stating his belief that thimerosal causes autism, but his testimony has not been accepted. In 2008 a judge ruled that his "lack of expertise in genetics, epidemiology, and child neurology make it impossible for him to supply the necessary factual basis to support his testimony".
Haley has labeled autism as "mad child disease", which many autistic individuals and their parents have found highly offensive.