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Who authored 'An Inconvenient Study' and what are their affiliations?
Executive summary
Reporting and public materials identify Dr. Marcus Zervos as the lead author of the unpublished Henry Ford study at the center of the film An Inconvenient Study; other named authors include Lois Lamerato and Abigail Chatfield in circulation tied to the study manuscript [1] [2]. The documentary’s promotional material and allied outlets also foreground Del Bigtree as the filmmaker/producer and say the film features or was triggered by a challenge he issued; Henry Ford Health has publicly disputed the study’s publication status and scientific robustness [3] [4] [1].
1. Who is named as the study’s lead author — and how sources present him
Multiple outlets and commentary identify Dr. Marcus Zervos as the lead author of the Henry Ford “vaccinated vs. unvaccinated” study that the documentary An Inconvenient Study centers on [5] [1]. Independent reviews and local reporting reached out to Dr. Zervos as one of the “primary authors” but reported no reply; advocacy-oriented sites and the film’s promotional pages also quote or depict Zervos as the researcher who conducted the analysis [1] [6] [3].
2. Other named co‑authors and manuscript attributions
Publicly circulated references to a manuscript title—Impact of Childhood Vaccination on Short and Long-Term Chronic Health Outcomes in Children: A Birth Cohort Study—list Lois Lamerato, Abigail Chatfield, Amy Tang and Marcus Zervos, and connect institutional affiliations such as Henry Ford Health System and Wayne State University School of Medicine [2]. Michigan Public’s reporting specifically named Lois Lamerato along with Marcus Zervos as two of the study’s “primary authors” when asking for comment [1].
3. Affiliations attributed in reporting and promotion
Several sources link the study and its authors to Henry Ford Health in Detroit: reporting and reviewers describe Zervos as affiliated with Henry Ford Health (sometimes described as “Head of the Division of Infectious Diseases” in advocacy pieces) and the manuscript metadata cited on promotional pages lists Henry Ford Health System and Wayne State University School of Medicine [5] [2]. The documentary’s own site and affiliated outlets center Del Bigtree as the filmmaker and promoter of the project that brought the study to broader public attention [3] [4].
4. How institutions have responded — Henry Ford Health’s stance
Henry Ford Health has publicly distanced itself from claims that it suppressed a valid internal study and advised critics that the unpublished analysis did not meet the system’s scientific standards; outlets report Henry Ford’s formal denouncement and cautions about misinformation tied to these claims [4] [3]. Michigan Public and other mainstream outlets summarize Henry Ford’s communications and note the institution did not publish the study [1].
5. Documentary context and advocacy networks
An Inconvenient Study is presented in promotional materials as both a film and an advocacy project driven in part by Del Bigtree’s long‑running challenge to test vaccination outcomes; the film features figures such as Ron Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and is associated with ICAN (Informed Consent Action Network), whose attorney Aaron Siri has been prominent in related Senate testimony [3] [4] [6]. Advocacy sites and sympathetic commentators present the study and film as exposing a suppressed result; independent journalists and scientists have criticized the study’s methods and interpretations [6] [7].
6. Scientific critiques and reporting limitations
Multiple science journalists and statisticians have critiqued the unpublished study’s methodology—highlighting issues such as detection bias from differential health‑care visits between vaccinated and unvaccinated children—and argue these biases undermine causal claims; those critiques are documented in The Conversation, The Hindu, and Michigan Public reporting [7] [8] [1]. Those critiques and Henry Ford’s statements are central to the public debate; available sources do not present a peer‑reviewed, published version of the study that would allow independent verification of the authorship list or findings [7] [1].
7. What is covered and what isn’t in current reporting
Current reporting and promotional materials consistently name Marcus Zervos and list co‑authors such as Lois Lamerato and Abigail Chatfield and affix Henry Ford Health and Wayne State affiliations to the manuscript metadata [2] [1] [5]. However, available sources do not provide a peer‑reviewed publication, and Michigan Public reports that requests for comment from named authors went unanswered—meaning institutional affiliation is repeatedly asserted in coverage but the underlying, fully transparent author list and final, published paper are not available in the cited reporting [1] [2].
8. Bottom line for readers
If you’re assessing “who authored” and “what are their affiliations,” reporting consistently points to Marcus Zervos as lead author with co‑authors such as Lois Lamerato and institutional ties to Henry Ford Health (and connections to Wayne State in some manuscript references), while Del Bigtree is the documentary’s driving filmmaker and promoter [5] [2] [3]. At the same time, Henry Ford Health has publicly rejected the claim that the system suppressed a valid published study and independent analysts have identified methodological flaws in the unpublished analysis; a peer‑reviewed, published study that would definitively settle authorship, affiliations, and validity is not presented in the available reporting [4] [7] [1].