36 Michigan, Ann Arbor, andpresidentofthe public a University the at health expert of American CancerSocietyisabout todo. Britain’s Wellcome Trust already doesandthe als orschoolsthattake this money—as organizations should deny individu- to funding should bantobaccomoneywhether and grant some campusesover whether universities fundingisflourishing,ignitingadebateon try won ago—and decade somebattles.Butindus- tobacco’s a than more research juggernaut mirrors. years, thesameoldsmoke but see nothing and efforts tomanipulatescienceover50 past the products. Butcritics,who cite the industry’s nowimproving about serious thesafetyofits over turned has the industry a new leaf andis reduce thehazardsofsmoking. Advocates say nicotine inhalationdevices—ostensiblyto cigarettes like Quest,tobaccolozenges,and products—includingmodified reduced-harm lions ofdollarstohelpdevelopnew a class of provided has university researcherswithmil- fundsthecenter.Morris Philip giant Carolina, paidforthestudy,tobacco and Company ofResearch Triangle Park, North Quest’ssial. Vectorthe maker, Tobacco ence ontobacco.Butthework is controver- therefore be able todecreasetheirdepend- low-tarproduct—the cigarette—andmay smokers than ofanearlier“reduced-harm” ers of this new productinhalelessdeeply ter’s mission becauseitindicatesthatsmok- step in the cen- Quest studyasanimportant smokers helping kickthehabit.Hesees Smoking CessationResearch,dedicatedto university’s the CenterforNicotineand neered tocontainlessnicotine.Rosedirects from tobacco that’s genetically been engi- cigarette a to response calledQuest,made Jed Rose,focusesonthevolunteer’s and administeringcognitive tests. exhale him making intoasensor,in his arm, drawing him, around blood fromacatheter swarm a up, lights oftechniciansbuzz researcher is happy oblige. to man As the rette, his twelfth inlessthaneighthours. A Carolina,asksforaciga- Durham, North Duke at lab a University MedicalCenterin 65-year-old A mansittingatasmalltable in Ethics udn,butsomeuniversitiesgrant and organizations wantforbid to it funding, developing Scientists reduced-harm tobacco productsincreasingly rely industry tobacco on Turning Over New a Leaf? TobaccoIs Research It’s notasimpleissue,saysKen Warner, Anti-smoking activists triedtostop Since the late 1990’s thetobaccoindustry The experiment, by led neuroscientist AUR 05VL37SINEwww.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL307 7 JANUARY2005 bans ontobaccoindustryfundingviolateacademicfreedom. Burning issue. lives,why shouldn’t we?” moneytobacco tohelppeoplelead healthier ease smokers suffer,”says. he “Ifweuse can quit. “The real enemy dis- and death the is the millionsofsmokersto who are trying won’t argues thatvilifying theindustry help bias ourwork.” fund ourstudieshave made any attempt to past.” Headds,“Noneofthecompaniesthat different “very and the of from theabuses quality,innovative, unique,”and he says, research. sponsored This research is “high may usherinahealthiereraoftobacco- industry’s new reduction focusonharm Duke University’s Rosethinksthetobacco Moral dilemma companies fundit?” given their history,we do letthetobacco research. reduced-harm The questionis, heasks.“Thereisarealneedfor grounds?” you by create denying onmoral grants do slope of slippery whatand freedom, sort “Howyou do avoid infringingonacademic worries but past aboutrestrictingresearch. was industry guiltyofmisconductinthe Tobacco. Heconcedesthatthetobacco Society forResearchonNicotineand Stephen Rennard,physi- a pulmonary co-inventor a Rose, ofthenicotinepatch, University ofNebraska’s Stephen Rennardsays P u b l i s h e d b y

A A A S as the link betweendisease and smoking try’s speaksforitself. For history example, moneyuniversity with research,theindus- haven’t changedtheirways. rettes inChina—toseethatthe companies Myanmar tousingathletespromote ciga- sance—from targetingyouth smokers in examples oftobaccocompany malfea- that scientists need only current at look keep to smokers addicted.Chapmansays productsarejustaploythat reduced-harm ward off litigation,” he says.worry Some respectability and buy to research this fund have littleinterestinpublic health.“They reduction studies,thetobaccocompanies despite theirnew harm effortssupport to versity ofSydney in Australia, says that and aprofessorofpublic health at the Uni- Tobaccoman, editorofthejournal Control just say nototobaccomoney.Chap- Simon Others thinkacademicresearchersshould Smoky past howdetermine muchsmoke the average moneyto Rennard laterusedPhilipMorris theoretically smoke. producinglessharmful tobacco, pany thatheatsratherthanburns bycigarette looking manufactured com- the Reynolds,evaluated Eclipse—a standard- develop to asaferproduct.” university needs industry tobacco research wemake to need themassafewe can. The “People aregoingtocontinuesmoke,and public a from health perspective,” says. he “Iapproachthis agrees. support, industry Center inOmahawho also receives tobacco University the at cian of Nebraska Medical For many criticsofmixingtobacco One of Rennard’s projects,fundedbyRJ tragedy.” to market. That would bethereal tially life-saving productsmake it could be years be could beforethesepoten- abouttobaccofunding,it concerns If we delay thisresearchbecauseof the people who needtobehelped. “It’s simplistic,anditdoesn’t help tobacco industry,” adds. Rennard detergent.”dry developmentthe ofabetterlaun- like government the subsidizing improve to cigarettes. Itwouldbe NIH resourcesshouldnotbeused by funded be tobaccocompanies. realized thatthisresearchshould soul searching.“ButintheendI money required alotof industry the levels ofinhaledsmoke. cigarette a design that reduces may helpthecompanyfindings cigarette userisexposed to. The “It’s trendytobeatuponthe Still, Rennard says taking that

CREDIT: RON ERTL/UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER

Downloaded from www.sciencemag.org on August 24, 2010 N EWS FOCUS became clearer in the early 1950’s, the ing to World Health Organization estimates. tobacco money, the school could not accept world’s largest tobacco companies estab- “For anyone interested in public health, tak- both. “There was a very heated debate among lished the Tobacco Industry Research Com- ing this money is a clear conflict of inter- the faculty,” says Tom Rosol, the university’s mittee (TIRC)—later the est,” he says. senior associate vice president for research, Council for Tobacco who ultimately made the decision to take the Research (CTR)—to Academic freedom Philip Morris grant. “It came down to the issue fund research into the While scientists of academic freedom,” he says. “We didn’t health effects of smok- debate the merits want to accept a grant that would have placed ing. But its main goal, of taking tobacco restrictions on our investigators.” Rosol’s deci- internal company docu- money, other sion sparked a backlash, and several depart- ments now reveal, was authorities may ments, including the Comprehensive Cancer to obfuscate risks, and take the decision Center and the School of Public Health, few of the studies it out of their hands. enacted tobacco funding bans, barring funded addressed the Over the past researchers from taking tobacco money in the hazards of cigarettes decade, a number future. (Science, 26 April 1996, of institutions— A resolution approved by the University p. 488). including the Har- of California’s (UC) Academic Senate this “During the four vard School of summer would have the opposite effect. decades they operated, Public Health and Stating that “no special encumbrances TIRC and CTR never the University of should be placed on a faculty member’s came to the conclusion Harm reducer? RJ Reynold’s Eclipse heats Glasgow—have ability to solicit or accept awards based on that smoking causes can- rather than burns tobacco, theoretically prohibited their the source of funds,” the proposal would cer,” says Michael Cum- producing less harmful smoke. researchers from forbid any institutions within the UC sys- mings, the director of the applying for to- tem from banning tobacco funding. In a let- Tobacco Control Program at the Roswell bacco industry grants. In addition, organi- ter endorsing the resolution, UC president Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. zations such as Cancer Research U.K. and Robert Dynes describes such bans as “a vio-

“These organizations were more about pub- the Wellcome Trust will no longer fund lation of the faculty’s academic freedom.” on August 24, 2010 lic relations than science.” The industry researchers who take tobacco money. The Not everyone buys the academic free- agreed to shut down CTR in 1998 as part of American Cancer Society, one of the largest dom argument. “The university should be a an agreement—known as the Masters Set- private funders of cancer research, plans to role model,” says Joanna Cohen, an expert tlement—that also awarded 46 U.S. states adopt a similar policy this month. on university tobacco policies at the Univer- $206 billion in compensation for the cost of Ohio State University, Columbus, found sity of Toronto. “Academic freedom should treating smoking-related illnesses. itself in the eye of the storm in 2003 when not override its ethical responsibilities.” But CTR wasn’t the only problem. Gov- Philip Morris offered a medical school Nor does the American Legacy Founda- ernment prosecutors have charged that the tion, a Washington, D.C., tobacco education

companies frequently killed their own and funding organization established by the www.sciencemag.org research when it came to unfavorable con- Masters Settlement, have any qualms about clusions, funded biased studies designed to denying grants to institutions that take tobacco undermine reports critical of smoking, and money. “We don’t see this as an academic free- used the names of respected scientists and dom issue,” says Ellen Vargyas, the founda- institutions to bolster their public image. tion’s general council. “The tobacco industry The industry also lost credibility with its has a bad history, and this is our way of encour- previous attempts at harm reduction when it aging institutions not to take their money.”

touted low-tar and filtered cigarettes intro- The University of Nebraska’s Rennard, Downloaded from duced in the 1950’s and ‘60’s as “safer,” says who made himself ineligible for state Chapman, while suppressing evidence that money by accepting tobacco industry smokers drew harder on these cigarettes, funds, finds these policies and the univer- thereby increasing their uptake of carcino- sity bans deeply flawed. “Political positions gens. These charges are being revisited in an should not determine scientific agendas,” ongoing federal racketeering case—the he says. “If we restrict research on moral largest civil lawsuit in American history— grounds, should we ban grant money from alleging a 50-year conspiracy by the pharmaceutical companies or industries tobacco industry to mislead the public that pollute the environment? Where do about the dangers of smoking. For its part, you draw the line?” the industry argues that it has reformed; As public funding gets tighter, more uni- Philip Morris spokesperson Bill Phelps says versities may find themselves confronting his company believes that investing in No sale. University of Sydney’s Simon Chapman this question. The tobacco industry is research is the best way to address the says the tobacco industry wants to buy poised to fill the financial void, but contin- health risks associated with smoking. researchers’ credibility. ued charges of company malfeasance will Richard Hurt, the director of the Nico- increase the pressure on schools to shun this tine Dependence Center at the Mayo Clinic researcher a $590,000 grant at the same time a money. At the end of the day, institutions in Rochester, Minnesota, says researchers state foundation offered a nursing school will have to decide whether to overlook the considering industry money should remem- researcher a $540,000 grant. Because the terms source of this funding, or take the moral ber the toll extracted by tobacco use—4.9 of the state grant would have prohibited all high road and watch it go up in smoke.

CREDITS (TOP TO BOTTOM):PRESS; TO REYNOLDS/ASSOCIATED RJ (TOP CREDITS OF SIMON CHAPMAN COURTESY million deaths per year worldwide, accord- other university researchers from taking –DAVID GRIMM

www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 307 7 JANUARY 2005 37 Published by AAAS