Eric Feigl-Ding
![]() | This article reads like a press release or a news article and may be largely based on routine coverage. (May 2020) |
Eric Feigl-Ding | |
---|---|
Born | Eric Liang Ding March 28, 1983 |
Education | Johns Hopkins University (BA) Harvard University (ScD, ScD) Boston University |
Spouse | Andrea Feigl-Ding |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Public health |
Institutions | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health |
Thesis | Sex steroid hormones and type 2 diabetes risk (2007) |
Website | scholar |
Eric Liang Feigl-Ding (born March 28, 1983) is an American public health scientist who is currently a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[1] He is also the Chief Health Economist for Microclinic International. His research and advocacy have primarily focused on obesity reduction, cancer prevention, and drinking water safety. Feigl-Ding is a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow,[2] and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.[3]
Feigl-Ding was a candidate in the 2018 Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district,[4] as an advocate for public health, drug safety, and science.[5] In late January 2020, Feigl-Ding's early alarm and call for COVID-19 preparedness[6] went viral[7] on Twitter. Feigl-Ding later commented on the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigation efforts in various media. His high visibility has been criticized by career epidemiologists, as Feigl-Ding's academic career and research is centered around nutrition and public health.[8]
Early life and education
Feigl-Ding was born in Shanghai, China, and his family immigrated to the United States when he was five years old.[citation needed] He was raised in Central Pennsylvania, and was an alumnus of the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Health Care.[9] As a child, doctors diagnosed that he had developed a baseball-size tumor in his chest. He received an initial disease prognosis of less than five years to live,[10] but he survived with medical treatment he received at Hershey Medical Center.[citation needed]
He attended The Johns Hopkins University, graduating with Honors in Public Health and Phi Beta Kappa.[11] He earned his dual doctorate in epidemiology and nutrition from Harvard at age 23.[11] He attended Boston University School of Medicine,[12] but did not complete the M.D. degree.[citation needed]
Work
Research and entrepreneurship
Feigl-Ding's work focuses on nutrition, health economics, and epidemiology. He is currently a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[1][11]
Feigl-Ding is also the Chief Health Economist at Microclinic International,[13] as co-principal investigator of several intervention programs for obesity and diabetes prevention in the US and abroad. He developed a 130-year cohort study of Major League Baseball regarding the dangers of obesity and mortality in athletes.[14] He has also developed and led public health programs for Bell County, Kentucky,[15] the Danish Ministry of Health,[16] and the UNRWA.[citation needed] Feigl-Ding has also served as a consultant to the World Health Organization,[citation needed] as a report chairman for the European Commission,[17] and as an expert member of the Global Burden of Disease Project.[citation needed]
One notable study by Feigl-Ding determined that Merck should have known the serious health risks of Vioxx several years before the drug was pulled off the market.[18][19]
Feigl-Ding is also known for developing a direct-to-science model for accelerating cancer research, and as advocate of crowdfunding for medical research.[10] His efforts, including the creation of the now-defunct Campaign for Cancer Prevention,[20][10] raised over $500,000 in public donations for innovative cancer research, and he led cancer prevention advocacy platforms totaling over 6 million members.[21]
Feigl-Ding also founded ToxinAlert.org, as a public alert tool to warn communities about drinking water contaminations to prevent future lead poisonings like the Flint Water Crisis.[22][23][24][25]
Coronavirus preparedness advocacy
On January 20, 2020, Feigl-Ding went viral[7] on micro blogging Twitter after expressing in vocal terms his worries relative to the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak virus' basic reproduction number (R0) of up to 3.8.[6] Feigl-Ding compared the virus pandemic potential to the 1918 influenza pandemic[6] which has an estimated R0 of 1.8 and which killed ~50 million people out of 2 billion, and called for WHO and CDC to preemptively declare public health emergency and monitor aggressively the situation.[6] With the thread going viral, Feigl-Ding's appeals were criticized by his epidemiologist peers as alarmist and based on anecdotal data,[6] by journalists as misleading and misinforming the public,[26] and his announcements were reused to advance conspiracy theories about the virus.[27] While Feigl-Ding deleted the tweets,[27] the rapid development of the epidemic, first in China in January, then in Europe in February–March and in the United States in March, together with more studies on the virus, turned the perceptions of Feigl-Ding into that of an early messenger.[6][28] Feigl-Ding was invited as a commentator on the pandemic by news media.[29][30]
However, experts in infectious disease epidemiology, such as Dr. Marc Lipsitch, Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, have warned that while Feigl-Ding presents himself as an expert[clarification needed], his expertise in public health is not relevant to infectious disease, that he has only amplified news stories without contributing any original critiques or insights, and that, in doing so, he has occasionally been misleading.[7][8]
A case study of social web early alert
Feigl-Ding's alert was used to hypothesize that such early reactiveness to weak signals, if it had occurred in the relevant governmental health leadership circles, could have prevented the pandemic.[6] Following Feigl-Ding's call and his raising of the alarm in January, better responses by government authorities could have led millions to have prepared earlier and better to the pandemic, upgrading their hygiene, such as hand-washing and implementing social distancing measures.[6] It was proposed[who?] that public policies and actions should be based on precautionary principles rather than waiting for incontestable and inarguable evidences or the tide of public pressure.[6] Feigl-Ding's early pandemic alert was compared to the warnings since the 1970s about human-induced global warming, which in the 1980s had sufficiently strong early signals to have started actively planning for and responding to, reducing the disasters and costs of global warming during the 2000s and 2010s.[6]
Feigl-Ding argued that the data alone was clear, for anyone with elementary engineering, statistical, or business analytical skills to see the pandemic potential early on.[7] It was hypothesized that social media constant noise made relevant alarms such as Feigl-Ding's inaudible,[6] while Feigl-Ding argued that media reliance on vetted experts on a given topic might reduce access to relevant early alarms.[7]
Political campaign
In 2018, Feigl-Ding ran in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district.[31] He campaigned on a progressive platform advocating science, healthcare for all, public health, and not taking corporate PAC money.[5]
During the new Pennsylvania 10th district primary, his grassroots campaign outraised every opponent with $300,000 in just 10 weeks, including the Republican incumbent Scott Perry.[citation needed] He received the most national endorsements in the primary, and garnered the support of individuals and groups including: Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA), DNC Vice-Chair and Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), 314 Action, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus's ASPIRE, Harrisburg City Council President Wanda Williams, United Brotherhood of Carpenters, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, and the International Union of Operating Engineers.[citation needed]
Feigl-Ding received 18% of the vote but lost the primary to George Scott.[4]
Recognition and awards
Feigl-Ding has published over 100 scientific papers, including major reports in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, PLoS Medicine, and The Lancet. As of February 2020, he had an h-index of 72.[32]
Feigl-Ding has received awards, including the Boston Chamber of Commerce's Outstanding Young Leader Award (2012),[33] the American Heart Association's Scott Grundy Excellence Award (2015),[34] the "Best of the American Heart Association" (2013, 2014, 2015),[citation needed] the Sigma Chi Mark V. Anderson Leadership Award (2016),[35] the CUGH's Global Health Project of the Year Prize (2014),[36] the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans (2008).[37] He is also a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.[3] He was recognized by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark as one of “16 People and Organizations Changing the World in 2012”.[38]
References
- ^ a b "Eric Ding". Eric Ding.
- ^ "The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans". www.pdsoros.org.
- ^ a b "Global Shapers Alumni Network". Global Shapers. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
- ^ a b "Eric Ding". Ballotpedia.
- ^ a b Editorial, Guest (May 11, 2018). "I'm running for Congress because facts matter | Eric Ding". pennlive.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wallace-Wells, David (2020-03-26). "Why Did an Expert Who Warned About COVID-19 Have So Much Trouble Being Heard?". Intelligencer. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
- ^ a b c d e "Who qualifies as a 'real expert' when it comes to coronavirus?". Times Higher Education (THE). 2020-03-31. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- ^ a b "This Harvard Epidemiologist Is Very Popular on Twitter. But Does He Know What He's Talking About?". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
- ^ "Pennsylvania Governor's School". Archived from the original on 2009-06-06. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
- ^ a b c "A Web Campaign for Cancer Prevention". December 8, 2011.
- ^ a b c "Eric Feigl-Ding, PhD". scholar.harvard.edu.
- ^ "MED Student Awarded Soros Fellowship | BU Today". Boston University.
- ^ "Microclinic International". Microclinic International. Archived from the original on September 4, 2018.
- ^ "MLB Dead Weight: Fatness, Mortality Up". www.cbsnews.com.
- ^ 'Contagious' program helps Bell County residents get healthier
- ^ "Texts For Healthy Teens: A Health Education Program for Adolescents - Full Text View - ClinicalTrials.gov". clinicaltrials.gov.
- ^ "Diabesity - Towards a global initiative on gene-environment interactions in diabetes/obesity in specific populations. Report: Lifestyle and diabetes prevention programmes for minorities" (PDF).
- ^ Berenson, Alex (2006-09-13). "Studies Find Higher Rates of Heart Risk With Vioxx". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-02-02.
- ^ Nesi, Tom (September 16, 2008). "Poison Pills: The Untold Story of the Vioxx Drug Scandal". Macmillan – via Google Books.
- ^ EDT, Brian Braiker On 10/25/07 at 8:00 PM (October 25, 2007). "Tech: Philanthropy on Facebook". Newsweek.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Prevention, Campaign for Cancer. "Campaign for Cancer Prevention Connects 6 Million+ Members on Facebook Causes to Groundbreaking Research at Brigham and Women's Hospital". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
- ^ "Lead Contamination Beyond Flint". April 12, 2017.
- ^ ToxinAlert.org
- ^ "Where lead lurks". January 30, 2017.
- ^ "No One Has the Data to Prevent the Next Flint" – via www.wired.com.
- ^ Madrigal, Alexis C. (2020-01-28). "How to Misinform Yourself About the Coronavirus". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-02-01.
- ^ a b "Shoddy Coronavirus Studies Are Going Viral And Stoking Panic". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2020-02-06.
- ^ Reporter, Staff (2020-03-28). "Scientist Warned of the Danger of COVID-19, but No One Listened". Science Times. Retrieved 2020-04-08.
- ^ "Coronavirus inaction: Could leaders have blood on their hands?". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
- ^ "Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding discusses test kits for COVID-19". newsus.cgtn.com. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
- ^ "Public health scientist hopes to take his activism to Congress". Science | AAAS. May 9, 2018.
- ^ "Eric L Ding - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com.
- ^ "Boston TOYL Award winners" (PDF).
- ^ "AHA Connections Spring 2015". aha-365.ascendeventmedia.com.
- ^ "Mark V. Anderson Character-in-Action Leadership Award - List of Award Recipients".
- ^ "Consortium of Universities for Global Health - Fifth Annual Global Health Conference" (PDF).
- ^ "Meet the Fellows | Eric Feigl-Ding". www.pdsoros.org.
- ^ "16 People and Organizations Changing the World in 2012". December 26, 2011.