Timothy Caulfield

Timothy Caulfield
Born Cape Cod, Massachusetts, U.S.
Residence Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Education Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws
Alma mater University of Alberta, Dalhousie University
Scientific career
Institutions University of Alberta
Thesis The Last Straw: The Impact of Cost Containment in Health Care on Medical Malpractice Law (1993)

Timothy Allen Caulfield (born 1963) is a Canadian professor of law at the University of Alberta,[1] the former research director of its Health Law Institute,[2][3] and current Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy.[4][5][6] He studies, writes and speaks about legal, policy and ethical issues in medical research and its commercialization. He is the author and editor of several books, as well as the host of a television documentary series debunking pseudoscientific myths.

Early life and education

Caulfield went to high school in Edmonton, Alberta.[3] He attended the University of Alberta, earning a B. Sc. in 1987 and a law degree in 1990. He completed a Masters in Law at Dalhousie University in 1993.[7] During this period he also performed in two punk rock and new age bands, "The Citizens" and "Absolute 9".[1][8]

Academic career

In 1996, Caulfield became an assistant professor at the University of Alberta. After working several years as an associate professor, he became a full professor in 2004 and is currently teaching biotechnology. In 1993, he became the Research Director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta, a position he occupied until 2011. He is now leading the Health Law and Science Policy Group at the faculty of Law. He is a Health Senior Scholar at the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and has worked on a variety of advisory committees involved in medical and scientific ethics, including one with the International Society for Stem Cell Research.[4]

Caulfield has published numerous articles in academic journals and popular media about a variety of topics related to ethics and the effect of media hype on medical research.[4][9][10] He is the editor for the Health Law Journal and Health Law Review.[4] He is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, as well as the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and[2] a member of the Task Force on Ethics Reform at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.[4] Caulfield gave the keynote speech (on the impact of popular culture on health) at the regional 2017 World Health Summit of the M8 Alliance, held in Montreal on May 8–9.[11][12]

Debunking pseudoscientific celebrity health advice

Caulfield uses social media platforms, interviews, his books and his television series to debunk health advice provided by celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, Kim Kardashian, Madonnna, Leo DiCaprio, Britney Spears and Gwyneth Paltrow.[8][13]

Picture of Timothy Caulfield talking
Timothy Caulfield at The Amazing Meeting 2017

An attentive follower of celebrity news, Caulfield became worried about seeing large numbers of people follow harmful or useless health advice, dispensed by celebrities, such as juice cleanse.[8] That realization led him to be more vocal as a critic of pseudoscience:

Goop and Gwyneth Paltrow

When Caulfield published a book on the negative impact celebrity endorsement have on public health in 2015, he chose to title it "Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?" He suggests people be critical of such health claims: "The truth is that people like Gwyneth do have a place in our lives as entertainers and artists. Just as long as we don’t see them as being sources of truthful information on anything other than what they do.”[15][16]

The book debunks health and beauty advice given by celebrities,[17][5] and addresses the statistical likelihood of the average person becoming a celebrity.[18] The book won the 2015 Science in Society General Book Award from the Canadian Science Writer's Association.[19]

Deepak Chopra

For Caulfield, alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra is an example of someone using scientific language to promote treatments that are not grounded in science: "[Chropra] legitimizes these ideas that have no scientific basis at all, and makes them sound scientific. He really is a fountain of meaningless jargon."[20] Caulfield's criticism of Chopra gained widespread attention in October, 2016, when he opposed Chopra's participation as a keynote speaker to a conference on autism in Edmonton (Alberta). Calling Chopra "the great de-educator", he argued offering a platform to Chopra's views were not useful to the conference's participants.[21] Interviewed prior to his address, Chopra shot back people should ignore skeptics such as Caulfield, but invited him to listen to his speech. When Caulfield was refused access to the room by hotel security, the following exchange on Twitter saw Chopra accusing Caulfield of inventing the incident for publicity, then apologizing when it was discovered hotel security had mistakenly received instructions to block him.[20]

Beauty products

Caulfield is also critical of unfounded claims made by manufacturers of beauty products, as well as the retailers and medical professionals who push them on clients.[22]

Caulfield spent a year faithfully following an expensive regimen of various skin care products specifically recommended by a dermatologist. The experiment ended with another dermatologist, using the same skin-analysis equipment as the first one, scoring his skin condition as worse or the same as the initial assessment. Caulfield passed on the suggested $500 corrective treatment: "We should always bring a furiously critical eye to the assessment of any claim made by Big Beauty. Phrases such as “clinically proven” or “dermatologist approved” have little meaning because they could refer to almost anything."[23][24]

He also expressed skepticism about nutricosmetics (beauty pills), pointing out their alleged benefits are not backed by clinical trials.[25]

Caulfield worries that consumers interpret a lack of results from those products by buying more, rather than questioning their effectiveness.[22] Rather than spending thousands of dollars on beauty products, Caulfield suggests people should "get exercise, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, sleep and don’t smoke."[24]

"Scienceploitation" and stem cell tourism

Caulfield has advocated for medical professionals to properly represent the potential benefits of new unproven treatments in fields that have great long-term potential. Stem cell treatments in particular is sometimes fraudulently hyped as a very expensive miracle cure for anything from autism, Lou Gehrig’s disease and spinal cord injury, to cerebral palsy, a practice caulfield calls "scienceploitation". These treatments are often available in clinics taking advantage of lax regulatory frameworks in some countries, hence the term "stem cell tourism."[22][26][27]

In addition to plain dishonesty, the media looking for human-interest stories often portray unsound treatments as effective and giving hope to patients. Researchers face pressure to present their research as being more advanced than it actually is and to respond to commercialization imperatives.[22][28][29][30]

Caulfield points out that these practices have been used all the way back to the discovery of magnetism, and tend to appear whenever a new scientific discoveries attract the interest of the public: "Now you see stem cell, genetic, and increasingly, microbiome research being exploited to sell a host of ridiculous products. My favorite example, however, has to be the use of “quantum physics.” Many alternative medicine practitioners seem to think that if they slap the word “quantum” on a product it sounds more science-y and more legitimate."[31]

Books and collections

Caulfield edited several reference works on research ethics. In the last decade, he also wrote books taking aim at pseudoscience. In The Cure for Everything,[32] he tried to clarify for his readers the science behind sensationalized media reports about the effects of diet and fitness on health.[33] Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? tackles celebrity endorsement of dubious treatments and their effect on public health, while The Vaccination Picture examines myths propagated against vaccines.

YearTitleNotes
1997Legal Rights and Human Genetic Material[34]Editor, with Maria Knoppers and T. Douglas Kinsella.
1999The Commercialization of Genetic Research: Ethical, Legal, and Policy Issues[35]Editor, with Bryn Williams-Jones.
2002Health Care Reform & the Law in Canada: Meeting the Challenge[36]Editor, with Barbara Von Tigerstrom.
2008Imagining science: Art, Science and Social Change[37]Editor, with Sean Caulfield.
2008Public Health Law and Policy in Canada, 2nd ed.[38]Editor, with Nola Ries and Tracey Bailey.
2011Canadian Health Law and Policy, 4th ed.[39]Editor, with Jocelyn Downie and Coleen M. Flood.
2011Perceptions of Promise: Biotechnology, Society and Art[40]Editor, with Sean Caulfield and Curtis Gillespie.
2012The cure for everything! : untangling the twisted messages about health, fitness, and happiness[41]
2013Public Health Law Policy in Canada[42]Editor, with Nola Ries and Tracey Bailey.
2015Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?: When Celebrity Culture and Science Clash[43]2015 Science in Society General Book Award
2017The Vaccination Picture[44]Debunking of anti-vaccine rhetoric.

Television series

Caulfield is the host and main protagonist of the documentary series, A User's Guide to Cheating Death, presented in 60 countries[45], including Canadian specialty channel Vision TV. Using humour and science, the first six-episode season presents Caulfield subjecting himself to various treatments of doubtful efficacy (including an ionic foot bath) in their quest to stay healthy and young forever. Filming locations include California and South Korea. The episodes include conversations with people believing the treatments work for them and discussions with panels of experts, such as Joe Schwarcz and Jennifer Gunter.[46][47][48] The series has been renewed for a second season.[49] Both seasons of the series will be made available on Netflix in North America during the Fall of 2018[50][31].

Episode[52]Original airing date
Season 1
Detox Debunked - The Truth Behind the PhenomenonSept. 18, 2017
The Fountain of Youth - Science of CosmeticsSept. 25, 2017
Full Potential - Genetic Testing and the Rise of Personalized MedicineOctober 2, 2017
Losing It - Extreme DietingOctober 9, 2017
Au Natural - Turning Our Back to Modern MedicineOctober 16, 2017
ScienceploitationOctober 23, 2017

Selected awards and distinctions

YearAward or distinction
2000Martha Cook Piper Award for Research Excellence, University of Alberta.[4][53]
2002Alumni Horizon Award, University of Alberta.[54]
2004Media Relations Award, University of Alberta.[4]
2007Fellow, Royal Society of Canada.[4]
2010Till and McCulloch Award, Stem Cell Network[55]
2015Science in Society General Book Award winner, Canadian Science Writers’ Association.[2]
2016Distinguished Academic Award, Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations[56]
2017Gold Winnier, Best Blog or Column, Digital Publishing Awards[57]

Personal life

Caulfield's brother Sean is the University of Alberta's Centennial Professor of Fine Arts and a former Canada Research Chair in Fine Arts. Through art, he explores the shifting boundaries between the technological and the biological.[58][59]

Caulfield enjoys track cycling and running. He is married and has four children.[60][61] He prefers beer to wine and cannot live without coffee.[8][61]

He suffers from motion sickness, which is one of the reasons he abandoned a fledgling career as a rock musician.[60]

References

  1. 1 2 Pelley, Lauren (8 January 2015). "Timothy Caulfield debunks celebrity health trends, from gluten-free diets to colon cleanses". Toronto Star.
  2. 1 2 3 "CSWA Book Award Winners!". Sciencewriters.ca. April 21, 2016. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Timothy Caulfield: Alberta's 50 Most Influential People 2014 - Alberta Venture". Alberta Venture. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Task Force on Ethics Reform: Membership". Canadian Institutes of Health Research. November 15, 2017. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Walden, Celia (9 May 2015). "Is Gwyneth Paltrow wrong about everything?". Telegraph. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "There's a word for that feeling you get when you're phone's not nearby". CBC. 3 December 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  7. ↑ "Timothy Caulfield". Ualberta. Archived from the original on November 24, 2017. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Pelley, Lauren (January 8, 2015). "Timothy Caulfield debunks celebrity health trends, from gluten-free diets to colon cleanses". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Healthy Skeptic André Picard eschews the hype, pandering and pseudo-science that plague his beat". Ryerson Review of Journalism, Elena Gritzan — April 6, 2016
  10. ↑ Tamara L. Roleff (26 September 2005). Cloning. Greenhaven Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-7377-3311-2.
  11. ↑ "Thimothy Caulfield speaks at the World Health Summit". Trudeau Foundation. May 9, 2017. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  12. ↑ "World Health Summit Regional Meeting - North America, Montreal 2017". World Health Summit. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  13. ↑ McFarling, Usha (20 April 2016). "Tim Caulfield on a mission to debunk celebrity health advice". STAT. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  14. ↑ "HEALTH FACT OR FICTION?: A Q&A WITH TIMOTHY CAULFIELD". Hamilton Health Sciences. October 11, 2017. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  15. ↑ Walden, Celia (May 9, 2015). "Is Gwyneth Paltrow wrong about everything?". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  16. ↑ Caulfield, Timothy (July 14, 2017). "Sorry, Gwyneth Paltrow. Science will always beat goopy junk". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on November 26, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2017.
  17. ↑ Payne, Elizabeth (16 January 2015). "Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? A Q&A with the author". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  18. ↑ "Book Review: Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? by Timothy Caulfield". Cracked Science, February 16, 2015 by Jonathan Jarry
  19. ↑ "CSWA Book Award Winners! ". Canadian Science Writer's Association website.
  20. 1 2 "Deepak Chopra, Timothy Caulfield end Twitter feud". CBC News. January 26, 2017. Archived from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  21. ↑ "'Embodiment of pseudoscience': Deepak Chopra bad choice for Edmonton autism conference says expert". October 29, 2017. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  22. 1 2 3 4 Caulfield, Timothy (September 12, 2011). "Blinded by Science". The Walrus. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  23. ↑ Caulfield, Timothy (May 5, 2015). "The Pseudoscience of Beauty Products". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  24. 1 2 Laidlaw, Katherine. "Timothy Caulfield: The RD Interview". Reader's Digest Canada. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  25. ↑ Tucker, Rebecca (April 22, 2016). "Six pills, powders and potions that promise beauty from the inside out". Toronto Life. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  26. ↑ "What is stem cell tourism? Narrated by Professor Timothy Caulfield". ccrm.ca. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  27. ↑ Caulfield, Timothy (March 20, 2017). "Beware the hype on stem-cell breakthroughs". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  28. ↑ Caulfield, Timothy (December 1, 2012). "Commercialization creep". Policy Options. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  29. ↑ "The blunt truth about 'cutting edge' medical research". CBC radio. March 26, 2017. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  30. ↑ Bersenev, Alexey (November 20, 2012). "Lecture: Timothy Caulfield – Stem cells tourism: The challenge for health and science policy". Stem Cell essays. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  31. 1 2 Gerbic, Susan (July 24, 2018). "GOOP, Netflix and Motion Sickness". Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  32. ↑ Ahearn, Victoria (6 March 2015). "Edmonton author Timothy Caulfield challenges Gwyneth Paltrow's 'Goop'". Global News. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  33. ↑ "Book Review: The Cure For Everything! by Timothy Caulfield". National Post, January 13, 2012. Julia Belluz
  34. ↑ Knoppers, Maria; Caulfield, Timothy; T. Douglas, Kinsella (1996). Legal Rights and Human Genetic Material. Toronto: Emond Montgomery. ISBN 0920722865.
  35. ↑ Caulfield, Timothy; Williams-Jones, Bryn (1999). The Commercialization of Genetic Research: Ethical, Legal, and Policy Issues. Toronto: Springer. ISBN 146137135X.
  36. ↑ Timothy A. Caulfield; Barbara Von Tigerstrom, eds. (2002). Health Care Reform & the Law in Canada: Meeting the Challenge. University of Alberta. ISBN 978-0-88864-366-7.
  37. ↑ Caulfield, Sean; Caulfield, Timothy (2008). Imagining Science: Art, Science, and Social Change. Calgary, Alberta: The University of Alberta Press. ISBN 978-0-88864-508-1.
  38. ↑ Ries, Nola; Bailey, Tracey; Caulfield, Timothy (2008). Public Health Law & Policy in Canada, 2nd Edition. Markham, Ontario: LexisNexis Canada. ISBN 0433458178.
  39. ↑ Downie, Jocelyn; Caulfield, Timothy; Flood, Coleen (2011). Canadian Health Law and Policy (4th ed.). Markham, Ontario: LexisNexis. ISBN 9780433465249.
  40. ↑ Caulfield, Sean; Gillespie, Curtis; Caulfield, Timothy (2011). Perceptions of Promise: Biotechnology, Society and Art. Department of Art and Design, University of Alberta and University of Washington Press. ISBN 0969989849.
  41. ↑ Caulfield, Timothy (2012). The cure for everything! : untangling the twisted messages about health, fitness, and happiness. Toronto: Viking Canada. ISBN 978-06700-65233.
  42. ↑ Ries, Nola; Bailey, Tracey; Caulfield, Timothy (2013). Public Health Law & Policy in Canada, 3rd Edition. LexisNexis Canada. ISBN 9780433470397.
  43. ↑ Caulfield, Timothy (2015). Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything?: When Celebrity Culture and Science Clash. Toronto: Viking. ISBN 978-06700-67589.
  44. ↑ Caulfield, Timothy (2017). The vaccination picture. Viking. ISBN 978-0735234994.
  45. ↑ "U of A professor's TV show debunking alternative therapies will be on Netflix". CBC News. August 1, 2018. Archived from the original on August 3, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
  46. ↑ "Timothy Caulfield hosts new TV series: 'A User's Guide to Cheating Death'". CBC.ca. September 11, 2017. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  47. ↑ Szklarski, Cassandra (September 4, 2017). "Goop-debunker buoyed by renewed attack on Gwyneth Paltrow's wellness brand". The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  48. ↑ "A User's Guide To Cheating Death". Eye on Canada. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  49. ↑ "VISIONTV GREENLIGHTS SEASON 2 OF "A USER'S GUIDE TO CHEATING DEATH."". Peacock Alley TV. March 7, 2018. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  50. ↑ Simons, Paula (September 26, 2018). "Paula Simons: A user's guide to Timothy Caulfield, the University of Alberta's very public intellectual". The Edmonton Journal. Archived from the original on September 27, 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  51. ↑ Jarry, Jonathan (September 14, 2017). "Review: "A User's Guide to Cheating Death"". McGill University. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  52. ↑ "A User's Guide to Cheating Death: Episodes". VisionTV.ca. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
  53. ↑ "Martha Cook Piper Research Prize Recipients". University of Alberta. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  54. ↑ "Search Award Recipients". University of Alberta. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  55. ↑ Willemse, Lisa (April 11, 2012). "Dr. Aaron Schimmer Receives the Till and McCulloch Award". Newswire.ca. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  56. ↑ "CAFA distinguished Academic Awards, 2016" (PDF). CAFA-AB.ca. September 20, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 17, 2017. Retrieved Nov 17, 2017.
  57. ↑ "The Winners". Digitalpublishing awards.ca. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  58. ↑ "Thimothy Caulfield: Expertise". Trudeau Foundation. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  59. ↑ "Sean Caulfield". University of Alberta. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  60. 1 2 "Timothy Caulfield, LLM, FRSC, FCAHS". isscr.org. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
  61. 1 2 Caulfield, Timothy (2018). "Genetic Revolution". A User's Guide to Cheating Death. Episode Season 2, Episode 3.
  • "TimothyCaulfield: University of Alberta". University of Alberta.
  • "Timothy Caulfield". Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. 2 October 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
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