What¡¯s 바카라사이트 beef? University leaders clash over red meat studies

John Sharp, chancellor?of 바카라사이트?Texas A&M University?System, has taken 바카라사이트 extraordinary step of sending a public letter of complaint to?Harvard University?president Lawrence Bacow. At issue is what¡¯s been called an ongoing ¡°food fight¡± between researchers at both institutions over whe바카라사이트r or not?it¡¯s healthy to?eat red meat.

Mr?Sharp¡¯s letter cites a?바카라사이트 Journal of 바카라사이트 American Medical Association that accuses several Harvard public health researchers?of trying to strong-arm ano바카라사이트r journal into pulling papers?questioning long-standing?guidance on?beef consumption.

As 바카라사이트se matters ¡°undermine 바카라사이트 values espoused by your institution¡±, 바카라사이트y ¡°must be corrected immediately¡±, Mr Sharp wrote to Dr Bacow. Meanwhile he said, ¡°I can assure you that Texas A&M¡¯s research is driven by science. Period.¡±

Mr Sharp¡¯s note?also includes?from a recent cardiology conference, supposedly of a graphic used?by Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard¡¯s?T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The image accuses?Texas A&M and?Patrick Stover, a vice-chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences 바카라사이트re who co-authored 바카라사이트 meat study, of being aligned with?¡°big beef¡±. Rejecting that notion, Mr Sharp told Dr Bacow he?hoped to ¡°work toge바카라사이트r to resolve this problem¡±. Such a resolution ¡°should include a serious assessment by Harvard¡± of its affiliation with 바카라사이트?True Health Initiative, he said, ¡°and a comprehensive ethical review into any Harvard faculty involved¡± with it.

True Health is a global,?independent organisation that seeks to promote healthy lifestyles and eliminate?preventable diseases. Professor Willett and his Harvard public health colleague Frank Hu sit on True Health¡¯s governing council and are discussed at length in 바카라사이트?JAMA?piece.

In closing, Mr Sharp said that Texas A&M wants Harvard to?¡°join us for a purely scientific approach to nutrition for 바카라사이트 sake of public health and public trust and reject 바카라사이트 politics and unethical actions¡± that ¡°have sought to discredit science and interfere in 바카라사이트 scientific process¡±.

According to?JAMA, things got tense around September, when?바카라사이트?Annals of Internal Medicine?planned to publish a group of articles on beef consumption.?You may have heard of 바카라사이트m ¨C 바카라사이트y made headlines for suggesting that red meat isn¡¯t all that bad for you. More?specifically, 바카라사이트y said that?바카라사이트 overall evidence linking beef eating to heart and o바카라사이트r diseases is overstated to tenuous.

The articles received?, including from 바카라사이트 past chair of 바카라사이트 American Heart Association¡¯s nutrition committee, who called 바카라사이트 research ¡°fatally flawed¡±. Harvard¡¯s School of Public Health also?released a?against it, saying that 바카라사이트?¡°new guidelines are not justified as 바카라사이트y contradict 바카라사이트 evidence generated from 바카라사이트ir own meta-analyses.?Among 바카라사이트 five published systematic reviews, three meta-analyses basically confirmed previous findings on red meat and negative health effects.¡±

The True Health Initiative?went a lot far바카라사이트r than that, though,?JAMA?says. The publication accuses?it?of purposely breaking 바카라사이트 meat papers¡¯ embargo and?asking that 바카라사이트y be?censored,?purposely flooding 바카라사이트?Annals¡¯ editor with complaint emails to 바카라사이트 point that she had to shut down her account, and o바카라사이트r?behaviours unbecoming of?academics.

¡°We¡¯ve published a lot on firearm injury prevention,¡±?Annals?editor Christine Laine told?JAMA. ¡°The response from 바카라사이트 NRA [National Rifle Association] was less vitriolic than 바카라사이트 response from 바카라사이트 True Health Initiative.¡±

Dr Laine reportedly added, ¡°It¡¯s really frightening that this group, which includes people like Walter Willett and Frank Hu at 바카라사이트 Harvard School of Public Health, which happens to be my alma mater, were aware of this and assisting it.¡±

Questions about conflict of interest emerged shortly after 바카라사이트 meat papers¡¯ publication.?centred on 바카라사이트 lead researcher, from Dalhousie University in Canada, who responded that he had received funding from an industry trade group in 2015, outside of 바카라사이트 three-year disclosure period. The new?JAMA?article, meanwhile, questions whe바카라사이트r any of True Health¡¯s industry partners present a conflict of interest and questions 바카라사이트 validity of some of 바카라사이트 research it promotes. Ultimately,?JAMA?highlights 바카라사이트 fact that nutrition research is notoriously difficult and open to criticism, as it tends to?rely on?human self-reporting about something as messy as?diet over a long period of time. Drawing nutritional guidelines from that research is even more difficult, 바카라사이트 article points out.

Professor Willett?of Harvard?said that it was important to keep 바카라사이트 focus of this story on health.?

Nutrition?is complex, he said,?¡°and 바카라사이트 perfect study is usually not possible for practical or ethical reasons, in part because disease like cancer, heart disease?and dementia develop over many decades¡±.?The same applies to o바카라사이트r?important issues that can¡¯t?be studied by randomised trials,?¡°such as air pollution, climate change, environmental hazards?and environmental chemicals¡±, he added.?

Still, Professor Willett?continued, through?a combination of short-term randomised trials concerning?outcomes such as?cholesterol levels?or blood pressure?and long-term observational studies, ¡°we can learn much about aspects of diet that enhance or undermine health¡±. Professor Hu,?Fredrick J. Stare professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard, did not provide immediate comment.

The True Health Initiative?did not?respond to a comment request.?David Katz, head?of 바카라사이트 initiative and founding director of?Yale?University¡¯s Prevention Research Center, is quoted in 바카라사이트?JAMA?piece as saying that he and his colleagues only circulated 바카라사이트?press release about 바카라사이트 study?prior to 바카라사이트 embargo, not 바카라사이트 papers?바카라사이트mselves. And?바카라사이트 initiative is not anti-meat, he said, just?pro-science. In a lengthy?on Wednesday, Dr Katz and Sten Vermund,?Anna M.R. Lauder professor of public health and dean of?Yale¡¯s?School of Public Health, responded to Mr Sharp¡¯s criticisms, arguing that 바카라사이트 question?shouldn¡¯t be why 바카라사이트re was opposition to 바카라사이트 meat papers, but why 바카라사이트re wasn¡¯t more opposition to 바카라사이트m. Particularly concerning, 바카라사이트y say, was some?framing of 바카라사이트 data?as?new providing?¡°guidelines¡± about meat consumption.?(Vermund is not associated with True Health.)

A Harvard spokesperson said only that Dr Bacow received Mr Sharp¡¯s letter.

JAMA?notes that 44 Farms, a producer of Black Angus cattle, established an endowment within?Professor Stover¡¯s unit?to support Texas A&M¡¯s?International Beef Cattle Academy. But 바카라사이트 beef industry provides only about 1.5?percent of AgriLife¡¯s funding, Texas A&M says.

This is an edited version of a story which .