Researchers who have stood?up against vaccine scepticism are likely to?face increased threats as?Donald Trump appoints ¡°anti-science¡± figures to?his administration, experts have warned.

Since Mr?Trump was elected US?president on 5?November, high-profile scientists have been deluged with abuse on?social media, most notably with renewed calls for Anthony Fauci, America¡¯s former public health chief, to be?prosecuted and ¡°held responsible¡± for his advice during the pandemic.

There are concerns that the appointments of Robert F.?Kennedy?Jr ¨C who has repeatedly made false claims about vaccines, autism and Covid, and has been picked as health secretary ¨C and Elon Musk, another vaccine sceptic who is leading on government efficiency, may embolden anti-vaxxers, including in Congress.

Peter Hotez, the creator of a low-cost Covid jab and a?target for anti-vaxxers for many years, has experienced an uptick in online abuse since Mr?Trump¡¯s victory, but the Baylor University biologist told Times Higher Education that he saw recent events as ¡°mostly just more of the same¡±.

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He was worried, however, that the ¡°politically motivated anti-vaccine movement¡± that saw ¡°200,000 Americans needlessly perish because they refused a?Covid vaccine¡± was ¡°extending to?childhood immunisations¡±.

Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, believed the elevation of anti-vaxxers to government was deeply concerning because it would be seen to validate the views of those who have threatened Professor Hotez and other experts.

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The threats against Professor Hotez from politicians have mostly amounted to ¡°harassment thus far demanding correspondence and requiring him to testify before Congress¡±, but the anti-scientist sentiment stoked in Washington could have more serious consequences, Dr?Baker continued.

Along with other scientists, Professor Hotez would be ¡°worried that he will face a situation where the full fury of the anti-vaxxers is unleashed with no?one in a position of authority prepared to stand up for him or for modern medicine and science more generally¡±.

¡°To be clear, there is corruption in the system ¨C the opioid epidemic is the most visible evidence ¨C but these [anti-vaccine] people are?not interested in cleaning up corruption. They are interested in tearing down a system that has led to longer, better lives for billions of people,¡± said Dr?Baker.

While Professor Hotez has called for scientists to receive ¡°¡±, Mr?Trump¡¯s explicit threat to?tax university endowments and to?fine institutions perceived to be pursuing ¡°woke¡± agendas might make this support much harder to come by than it was in 2016, one university dean told?THE.

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Her institution was already monitoring internal correspondence given the ¡°concern that whatever we circulate publicly could be used against the college at some point down the line¡±, said the school leader, who asked not to be named.

¡°There is a real concern about the censorship of any research and teaching engaged with issues that are out of alignment with the incoming government¡¯s ideology,¡± she continued.

¡°It certainly seems likely that federal funds might be withheld if a college or university continues to offer degrees in gender studies, African American studies, et?cetera. This is?not 2016 ¨C no?one is in the streets protesting.¡±

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com