Paul McKeigue
Paul McKeigue is professor of genetic epidemiology and statistical genetics at the University of Edinburgh, a post he assumed in 2007.[1][2] He is a signatory to the Great Barrington Declaration.[3] Earlier in his career, he was a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and University College Dublin.[1]
Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media
McKeigue is a member of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (SPM). The SPM states that the group was established to "facilitate research into the areas of organised persuasive communication (including propaganda and information operations) and media coverage, with respect to the 2011-present conflict in Syria including related topics".[4] The first publication of the SPM, titled Doubts about "Novichoks", questioned whether Russia's secret nerve agent programme ever existed.[5]
Other members of the SPM include political scientist Tim Hayward, blogger Vanessa Beeley, former academic Piers Robinson, lecturer in International Relations Tara McCormack, and sociologist David Miller.[6][4]
The SPM states that the 2018 Douma chemical attack was faked by the White Helmets civil defence organisation.[7] The paper co-authored by McKeigue proposed a number of alternative theories about the attack in Douma, among them that over 40 victims of the chlorine attack were deliberately killed using gas chambers as part of sophisticated setup ("managed massacre") by White Helmets only to blame Syrian government.[8]
In March 2021, the BBC and The Times reported that McKeigue was voluntarily passing information about employees and location of archives of the NGO Commission for International Justice and Accountability (Cija) to a person he thought to be a Russian intelligence operative in Brussels, and urging that person to investigate western journalists.[8][9] The supposed Russian agent's emails were composed by members of the Cija, an organisation responsible for collecting evidence of war crimes committed by the Russian and Syrian governments in the Syrian Civil War.[8][9] Professor McKeigue said he had apologised to those involved and denied he had done anything wrong or illegal.[10]
References
- ^ a b "Paul McKeigue". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ "Professor Paul McKeigue". Scottish Informatics Programme. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ^ Williams, Martin (8 October 2020). "The science? - The Scots-based academics among key experts calling for 'life as normal' using Covid herd immunity". The Herald. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
- ^ a b "About". Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
- ^ Keate, Georgie; Kennedy, Dominic; Shveda, Krystina; Haynes, Deborah (14 April 2018). "Apologists for Assad working in British universities". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 22 November 2020. (subscription required)
- ^ Blanchard, Georgie; Keate, Sam (28 May 2020). "To say Douma attack was staged is to enter an Orwellian world". The Times. Retrieved 6 July 2020. (subscription required)
- ^ "Mysterious death of White Helmets co-founder spotlights toxic propaganda". PBS NewsHour. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
- ^ a b c Hadjimatheou, Chloe (26 March 2021). "The UK professor and the fake Russian agent". BBC News. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ a b Kennedy, Dominic (26 March 2021). "Edinburgh professor gave names to fake Russia spy". The Times. Retrieved 26 March 2021. (subscription required)
- ^ Beaumont, Peter; Graham-Harrison, Emma (28 March 2021). "The UK professor, a fake Russian spy and the undercover Syria sting". The Observer. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
External links
 | This biographical article related to medicine is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |