Boyd Haley

A native of Greensburg, Indiana, Haley graduated from its New Point High School in 1959. Four years later, he received a bachelor's degree from Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana, and then entered a teaching fellowship at Howard University.[3] Thereafter, he served as a U.S. Army medic a few years.

In 1967, Haley obtained an M.S. degree from the University of Idaho. He then entered a doctoral program at Washington State University, where he worked "to make chemical modifications on ATP to try to identify how and exactly where ATP binds to cause muscle movement."[4] In 1971, WSU granted him his Ph.D. degree in chemistry-biochemistry.

For three years, Haley served as a postdoctoral scholar at Yale University. From 1974 to 1985, he was a professor at the University of Wyoming.[2] hereafter, he was appointed professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Kentucky, whose chemistry department he became chairperson of in 1997.[2] He is now professor emeritus.[5]

In 1992, Haley and a colleague, upon examining cerebrospinal fluid, reported levels of glutamine synthetase considerably higher in cases of Alzheimer's disease than in a control group, and suggested that this could be a biomarker to aid diagnosis.[6][7]

In 2005, Haley reproduced findings of gold salt removing mercury from molecules, and inferred support for the possibility of gold salts removing mercury from biological proteins.[8] Yet Haley noted that the gold salts could themselves be toxic, and called for the extreme caution before applying gold salts in medical treatment.[8]

Haley argues that mercury exposure via dental amalgams and vaccinations may cause neurological impairments and diseases, such as autism and Alzheimer's disease.[9] The United States Public Health Service and the American Dental Association reject these claims.[10][11]

Haley has appeared in court as an expert witness against vaccine manufacturers, stating his belief that thimerosal causes autism, but his testimony has not been accepted.[12] In 2008 a judge ruled that his "lack of expertise in genetics, epidemiology, and child neurology make it impossible for him to supply the necessary factual basis to support his testimony".[12]

Haley is the founder of CTI Science, a Lexington, Kentucky-based biotechnology firm. CTI marketed a product, OSR#1, for human consumption; it was described as an "antioxidant" dietary supplement that is a powerful chelator from a family originally developed to remove heavy metals from soil and acid mine drainage.[13] In June 2008, an FDA toxicologist questioned[14] "on what basis the product could be expected to be safe and could be considered a dietary ingredient", but CTI Science and Haley had not responded as of January 2010.[13] The testing was described as incomplete and indicating toxicity.[15] On June 17, 2010, the FDA sent a warning letter noting five potential violations, expressing concern over the testing, and requiring a response in 15 days.[16][17] Although Haley wrote an op-ed for the Lexington Herald-Leader,[18][19] the FDA did not receive a formal response, and OSR#1 was withdrawn from the market.[20]

• University of Kentucky Department of Chemistry page