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Tobacco company scientist gained access to WHO collaborating center 

A new study of previously confidential tobacco industry documents shows that a Philip Morris scientist established close connections with a WHO Collaborating Centre in Thailand called the Chulabhorn Research Institute (CRI). The study is published in this week's PLoS Medicine.

The CRI is an internationally renowned teaching institution for a variety of scientific disciplines, including environmental toxicology (the study of how chemicals in the environment, such as tobacco smoke, can affect human health). The institute is designated a WHO Collaborating Centre, carrying out activities in support of the WHO's public health programs.

Ross MacKenzie (School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Australia) and Jeff Collin (Centre for International Public Health Policy, University of Edinburgh, Scotland) analyzed tobacco company documents that were made publicly available online following litigation in the United States. Philip Morris documents revealed that ostensibly independent overseas scientists, now identified as industry consultants, were able to gain access to the Thai scientific community. Most significantly, a Philip Morris scientist called Roger Walk established close connections with the CRI.

Documents indicate that Walk was able to use such links to influence the study and teaching of environmental toxicology in the institute and to develop relations with key officials and local scientists so as to advance the interests of Philip Morris within Thailand and across Asia.

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