Association of Clinical Researchers and Educators

This article is part of the Center for Media & Democracy's spotlight on front groups and corporate spin.

On its website, the Association of Clinical Researchers and Educators describes its long term mission as "to reverse policies instituted curtailing or minimizing interaction between industry and physicians, educators and researchers." Also known by the acronym, ACRE, the Association of Clinical Researchers and Educators was founded in the summer of 2009 by Thomas Stossel, who is professor at Harvard and member of the Manhattan Institute.

It's Web site contains a section titled "The Anti-Industry Movement" that seems targeted at defending the pharmaceutical industry. It states

The anti-industry movement initially began by pandering to archaic notions of professionalism rooted in pre-scientific medicine and contempt for business and trade. In recent years, members of the movement have successfully created a damaging public perception of industry by ignoring the benefits of partnering, demonizing the pharmaceutical industry, and focusing negative media attention on a small number of adverse events related to clinical trials.

It further states that "ACRE members seek to neutralize this negative movement that is disrespectful to physicians and industry alike."

When ACRE held their first meeting, The American Medical Student Association immediately put out a press release rejecting ACRE's platform. The press release read, "Denying the existence of real ethical concerns does not help our profession move toward greater innovation in patient care—it impairs it.

In 2009, Thomas P. Stossel, the Executive Director of ACRE, testified to Congress that corporate money does not corrupt medicine." He was taken to task by Senator Al Franken for relying on anecdotes instead of data to make his points."

Funding

ACRE does not list any sources of its funding on its Web site.

Personnelp

Steering Committee

• Henry R. Black, MD, MACP, New York University School of Medicine, Clinical Professor of Internal Medicine
• Thomas J. Fogarty, MD, Director, Fogarty Institute
• Rafael F. Fonseca, MD, PhD, Mayo Clinic Arizona, Consultant, Professor of Medicine Deputy Director Mayo Clinic Cancer Center
• Jeffrey R. Garber, MD, FACP, FACE, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
• J Michael Gonzalez-Campoy, MD, PhD, FACE, Medical Director and CEO, MNCOME;
• Barton A. Kamen, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
• Carey D. Kimmelstiel, MD, Associate Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine
• Avi B. Markowitz, MD, Bill and Louise Bauer Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research, University of Texas Medical Branch
• Don K. Nakayama, MD, MBA, Milford B Hatcher Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery, Mercer University School of Medicine
• Paul G. Richardson, MD, Clinical Director, Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center, Department of Medical Oncology, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
• Thomas P. Sullivan, President, Rockpointe Corporation, 8335 Guilford Road, Suite A, Columbia, MD 21046
• Thomas P. Stossel, MD, American Cancer Society Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
• Michael A. Weber, MD, Professor of Medicine, SUNY Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine

Staff

• Diann Rohde

Contact

The Association of Clinical Researchers and Educators provides no street number, physical location or mailing address on its Web site.

Phone: 917.930.2866
Fax: 708.575.1278
Email: contact@ACREonline.org
Web site: http://www.acreonline.org/

Related SourceWatch articles

• Front groups

External Articles

• Liz Kowalczyk, "Perks policy for doctors challenged: Physician organization wants limits rolled back", Boston Globe, July 23, 2009 .
• Matthew Arnold, "Headliner: Harvard Medical School's Tom Stossel", Medical Marketing & Media, August 14, 2009.