Inspirational. Aspirational. I want all my papers to be like this.
Milo Trujillo
@backdrifting.net
1K followers 841 following 198 posts
Systems scientist, engineer, activist. Researches how we organize and govern based on our social artifacts. Postdoc at @vcsi.bsky.social, lecturer at @nunetsi.bsky.social, infrastructure and analysis at @ddosecrets.org
![Dear Dr. Schmidt, Board of Trustees, and Deans,
I am a proud alumnus of Rensselaer (B.S. 2018, M.S. 2020), and credit the institute with shaping
me as a professional scientist. I write today with grave concern about Rensselaer’s proposed
contract with the CDC to study links between vaccinations and autism [1].
Rensselaer’s commitment to knowledge and thoroughness is well-known. However, the link
between vaccines and autism, first proposed in a now-retracted 1998 paper [2], has been
conclusively investigated and discredited [3, 4, 5]. Scientific consensus is clear, and further
studies are not warranted. Instead of providing certainty, Dr. Juergen Hahn’s proposed work will
provide legitimacy to vaccine skeptics by suggesting that a causal link between vaccination and
autism is even conceivable.
Vaccine hesitancy is on the rise globally, in part driven by perceived risk of vaccination [6]. In
contributing to this hesitancy, Rensselaer will be complicit in decreasing vaccination rates, a
return of once-defeated diseases like measles, and ultimately, unnecessary suffering and early
deaths. I urge the institute to reconsider their CDC contract, for the good of humanity and their
own reputation.
Respectfully,
Dr. Milo Z. Trujillo
(There are references, but the bibliography does not fit in alt text)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vgodyxts7kvoyg6lsiixpmhf/bafkreibbsjywychfkds7pshxf7vhsvm2rojv3tvqxiykre6t6xawgpgsim)
