Sucharit Bhakdi

Sucharit Bhakdi (born Sucharit Punyaratabandhu, 1 November 1946, in Washington, D.C.) is a retired Thai-German microbiologist.[1] In 2020 Bhakdi became a prominent exponent of ideas about the coronavirus pandemic that ran counter to the scientific consensus.[2]

Sucharit Bhakdi
Born (1946-11-01) November 1, 1946
Washington, D.C., U.S.
NationalityThai-German
Alma mater
Known forMicrobiology,[1] fringe ideas about COVID-19[2]
AwardsOrder of Merit of Rhineland-Palatinate, Aronson Prize
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine/surgery, bacteriology and atherosclerosis

He was a professor at the University of Mainz, where from 1991 to 2012 he was head of the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene.[3]

Early life and education

Bhakdi's parents are Thai diplomats.[4] In an interview, Bhakdi stated that his mother studied at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.[5]

Bhakdi studied at the Universities of Bonn, Gießen, Mainz and Copenhagen, and at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics in Freiburg.[3]

He studied medicine at the University of Bonn from 1963 to 1970, during part of which (from 1966 to 1970) he was a scholarship holder of the German Academic Exchange Service.[6] Bhakdi worked for a while as a private assistant to the internal medicine specialist Walter Siegenthaler.[5] In February 1971 he received his doctorate in medicine. From 1972 to 1978, he studied at the Max Planck Institute for Immunobiology in Freiburg on scholarships from the Max Planck Society at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.[3]

He worked at the University of Copenhagen for a year before moving to the Institute of Medical Microbiology at the Justus Liebig University in Gießen, where he worked from 1977 to 1990. In July 1979 he habilitated.

Scientific and medical career

Bhakdi was appointed C2 professor at Gießen in 1982. He spent a further year in Copenhagen and became C3 professor of medical microbiology (at Gießen again) in 1987 before being appointed to the University of Mainz in 1990. From 1991 he headed the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene as a C4 professor.[3]

Bhakdi retired on 1 April 2012.[7] Since 2016 he has been a visiting scholar at the University of Kiel.[8][9][10]

Prior to his retirement, Bhakdi produced scientific work in fields such as bacteriology and atherosclerosis, and published multiple scientific articles in these areas.[11] Awards he received include the Order of Merit of Rhineland-Palatinate.[12]

Memberships and functions
  • Member of the Collaborative Research Centres of the German Research Foundation "Proteins as Tools in Biology" at the University of Giessen (1987-1990),
  • Deputy Spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center "Immunopathogenesis" (1990-1999)
  • Spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center "490 Infection and Persistence in Infections" in Mainz (2000-2011).[6]
  • Co-founder and board member of the Association of Physicians and Scientists for Health, Freedom and Democracy, which was founded in May 2020 and lost its non-profit status in October 2020.[13] The purpose of the association is to take action against the government’s measures to contain the corona pandemic.[9]

In autumn 2020 he was one of the first signatories of the "appeal for free debating spaces" ( Appells für freie Debattenräume).[14]

He was Editor in Chief of Medical Microbiology and Immunology from 1990 to 2012.[15]

Prominence during COVID-19 pandemic

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Bhakdi started a YouTube channel proposing that the number of deaths stemming from SARS-CoV-2 infection had been overstated. In November 2020 his account was terminated for violating YouTube's community guidelines.[16]

He has been criticised for his theses on the COVID-19 pandemic; according to Medical Tribune, they are considered unscientific by a majority of experts.[17]

Bhakdi's criticisms of the COVID-19 pandemic response

His criticisms of states' (most particularly Germany's) reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic have included:

  • Writing an open Letter to German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel regarding the "socio-economic consequences of the drastic containment measures which are currently being applied in large parts of Europe"[18]
  • Posting videos on YouTube[19] claiming, for example, that the Governement was overreacting because the virus posed no more threat than influenza, and that any COVID-19 vaccine would be "pointless".[20]
  • Participation in the writing of a "position paper of the BMI" by an employee of the German crisis management department.[21][22][23] The Federal Ministry distanced itself from the position, calling the paper a "private opinion" circulating on official letterhead, and released the chief government councilor Stephan Kohn from duty.[24]
  • He is the co-author of Corona, False Alarm? Facts and Figures (2020), German: ('Corona Fehlalarm?')[25][26] An earlier book of his was published in 2016, Schreckgespenst Infektionen – Mythen, Wahn und Wirklichkeit (tr. "Bogeyman Infections - Myths, Delusions and Reality").[27] He published both books together with his wife, Karina Reiss, a biologist and biochemist at the Quincke Research Center, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.[28]

Responses to Bhakdi's criticisms

The German non-profit Correctiv fact-checked one of Bhakdi's YouTube videos, and found a number of problematic claims, including the claim that any COVID-19 vaccine would be "pointless", and that the virus posed no more threat than influenza.[20] Writing for Foreign Policy, Tyson Barker (Head of DGAP's Technology & Global Affairs Program)[29] described Bhakdi as a prominent example from a "crop of debunked but credentialed so-called experts minting conspiracy theories and undermining fact-based information".[30]

In October 2020 the University of Mainz issued a statement to the effect that it does not support Bhakdi's views.[31][32]

Awards

Professional awards
  • 1979 Preis der Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen[33]
  • 1980 Konstanzer Medizinischer Förderpreis[33]
  • 1987 Preis der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie[34]
  • 1988 Dr.-Friedrich-Sasse-Preis[33]
  • 1989 Ludwig-Schunk-Preis für Humanmedizin[33]
  • 1989 Robert-Koch-Förderpreis of Clausthal-Zellerfeld[35]
  • 1991 Gay-Lussac Humboldt Prize[36]
  • 2001 Aronson Prize for „wegweisende Arbeiten auf dem Gebiet des Komplementsystems und bakterieller Toxine“ tr. "pioneering work in the field of the complement system and bacterial toxins"[37][38]
  • 2005 H. W. Hauss Award[39]
  • 2005 Verdienstorden des Landes Rheinland-Pfalz[12]
  • 2009 Rudolf-Schönheimer Medal of the Deutschen Gesellschaft für Arterioskleroseforschung[40][41]

Negative award

Following the publicity accorded to Bhakdi's statements and publications regarding Covid-19 during 2020, the Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (English: Society for the Scientific Investigation of Pseudosciences) named him as winner of the 2020 Goldenes Brett.[42]

References
  1. "Bhakdis Brief an die Kanzlerin – Was ist dran an seinen Fragen?" [Bhakdi’s Letter to the Chancellor - What About His Questions?]. BR24 (in German). 1 April 2020.
  2. Muriel Kalisch; Patrick Stotz (21 May 2020). "Hinter der Verschwörung" [Behind the plot]. Der Spiegel (in German).
  3. "Sucharit Bhakdi (Punyarataband) Lebenslauf" [curriculum vitae]. studylibde.com. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  4. "Sucharit Bhakdi]". goldegg-verlag.com, Goldegg Verlag. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  5. "Weltwoche: «Gefährliche Verführungen»" ["Dangerous seductions"]. www.weltwoche.ch. 6 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020. His mother, who had studied at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, inspired him early in medicine. «She was an excellent doctor,» says Bhakdi.
  6. Gestern Stipendiatin – und heute? Sucharit Bhakdi – Leiter des Instituts für Medizinische Mikrobiologie und Hygiene der Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (tr."Yesterday a DAAD-scholar - and today? Sucharit Bhakdi - Head of the Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz") www.daad.de, 2006 (Archive)
  7. "Neu bei uns. (PDF)" [New to us] (PDF). www.unimedizin-mainz.de. September 2013. p. 18. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  8. "Meinungen am Rande des Mainstreams" [Opinions on the margins of the mainstream Pharmazeutische Zeitung]. www.pharmazeutische-zeitung.de. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  9. Rohwedder, Wulf (10 August 2020). "Zweierlei Maß bei „Corona-Rebellen"" [Double standards in Corona rebels"]. tagesschau.de. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  10. Schwenke, Karen (8 August 2020). "„Wir wollen zum Denken anregen" – Zwei Kieler Forscher stellen sich gegen alle anerkannten Corona-Experten. Ihr Buch ist ein Bestseller (Paywall)" ["We want to inspire people to think" - Two Kiel researchers stand against all recognized Corona experts. Their book is a bestseller (Interview in den Kieler Nachrichten)].
  11. "Scopus preview - Bhakdi, Sucharit - Author details - Scopus". www.scopus.com. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  12. "Sucharit Bhakdi MD". chelsea green. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  13. Lars Wienand: Corona-Verein von Sucharit Bhakdi verliert Gemeinnützigkeit (tr. "Corona Association of Sucharit Bhakdi loses non-profit") www.t-online.de accessed 5 November 2020
  14. Erstunterzeichner (tr. "First signatory")idw-europe.org accessed 8 October 2020
  15. "Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Springer". www.springer.com. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  16. Schmerer, Kai (28 November 2020). "COVID-19: Youtube sperrt zahlreiche Videos und Konten von Regierungskritikern" [COVID-19: YouTube blocks numerous videos and accounts of government critics]. ZDNet. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  17. Wenn Ärzte von der Coronakrise als einer „kriminellen Inszenierung“ sprechen tr. When doctors speak of the corona crisis as a "criminal act" 22 July 2020, www.medical-tribune.de, accessed October 7, 2020
    "Die Thesen von Prof. Bhakdi, emeritierter Professor für Mikrobiologie der Uni Mainz, werden von der übergroßen Mehrheit der Experten unwissenschaftlich genannt, denen des ehemaligen Lungenfacharztes Dr. Wodarg wird gleichermaßen widersprochen." tr. "The Theses of Prof. Bhakdi, professor emeritus of microbiology at the University of Mainz, is called unscientific by the vast majority of experts, those of the former lung specialist Dr. Wodarg are equally contradicted."
  18. Open Letter from Professor Sucharit Bhakdi to German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel (26 March 2020) swprs.org, accessed 8 October 2020
  19. "Prof. Dr. med. Sucharit Bhakdi". YouTube. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  20. Kathrin Wesolowski (19 June 2020). "Impfung gegen Covid-19 "sinnlos"? Sucharit Bhakdi stellt unbelegte Behauptungen auf" [Vaccination against Covid-19 "pointless"? Sucharit Bhakdi makes unfounded claims]. Correctiv (Fact check) (in German).
  21. Julia Sextl (13 May 2020). "Brisantes Corona-Papier: War das alles richtig so?" [Explosive Corona paper: was it all right?]. Abendzeitung. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  22. Stephan Kohn (2020). "KM4 Analyse des Krisenmanagements (Kurzfassung)" [KM4 analysis of crisis management (short version)] (PDF). Stephan Kohn / Abendzeitung. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  23. Sucharit Bhakdi, Gunter Frank, Gunnar Heinsohn, Stefan W. Hockertz, Karina Reiß, Peter Schirmacher, Andreas Sönnichsen, Till Uebel, Harald Walach / Abendzeitung (11 May 2020). "Gemeinsame Pressemitteilung der Experten des Corona-Papiers aus dem Bundesministerium des Innern" [Joint press release by the experts on the Corona paper from the Federal Ministry of the Interior] (PDF). Retrieved 16 May 2020.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. Benjamin Reuter (14 May 2020). "Wie der angebliche Corona-Geheimreport im Innenministerium entstand" [How the alleged Corona secret report in the Interior Ministry was created]. Der Tagesspiegel. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  25. "Corona Fehlalarm? Zahlen, Daten und Hintergründe" [Corona false alarm? Numbers, dates and backgrounds]. www.goldegg-verlag.com. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  26. "buchreport, Corona Fehlalarm?" [Bookreport]. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  27. "Schreckgespenst Infektionen – Mythen, Wahn und Wirklichkeit" [Bogey Infections - Myths, Delusions and Reality]. www.goldegg-verlag.com. ISBN 9783903090668. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  28. Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Karina Reiß www.uni-kiel.de, accessed 8 October 2020
  29. Tyson Barker Joins DGAP as Head of its New Technology & Global Affairs Program dgap.org, accessed 19 December 2020
  30. Tyson Barker (2 September 2020). "Germany Is Losing the Fight Against QAnon". Foreign Policy.
  31. Universität distanziert sich von Corona-Kritiker Bhakdi ("University distances itself from Corona critic Bhakdi") 2 November 2020 www.swr.de Accessed 4 December 2020
  32. Unimedizin Mainz distanziert sich klar von Bhakdi - Seit Monaten spricht der Professor im Ruhestand von einem „Corona-Fehlalarm“ – sein früheres Institut findet dafür deutliche Worte (tr. "Unimedizin Mainz explicitly distances itself from Bhakdi - For months, the retired professor has been talking about a "corona false alarm" - his former institute is unequivocal on this.") 31 October 2020 www.giessener-anzeiger.de (Subscription required)
  33. Institutsgeschichte Geschichte des Institutes für Medizinische Mikrobiologie in Gießen (bis zum Jahr 2000) tr. History of the Institute History of the Institute of Medical Microbiology in Gießen (until 2000) www.ukgm.de, accessed 25 November 2020
  34. Hauptpreis. PreisträgerInnen tr. Main Prize. Prize winners www.dghm.org, accessed 25 November 2020
  35. Förderpreis der Stadt Clausthal-Zellerfeld www.robert-koch-stiftung.de, accessed 25 November 2020
  36. Liste der Preisträger des Gay-Lussac-Humboldt-Preis (PDF; 82 kB)
  37. "Mainzer Universitätsprofessor Sucharit Bhakdi wird mit dem Aronson-Preis 2001 ausgezeichnet" [Mainz university professor Sucharit Bhakdi is awarded the Aronson Prize 2001]. www.uni-protokolle.de.
  38. Petra Giegerich (29 November 2002). "Mainzer Universitätsprofessor Sucharit Bhakdi wird mit dem Aronson-Preis 2001 ausgezeichnet" (in German).
  39. "Sucharit Bhakdi, M.D." Universität Mainz. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  40. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (20 April 2009). "Mainzer Mediziner Bhakdi für Hypothese zur Entstehung von Atherosklerose ausgezeichnet" [Mainz physician Bhakdi honored for hypothesis on the development of atherosclerosis]. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  41. Deutsches Ärzteblatt. Namen und Nachrichten [Names and messages]. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  42. Das Goldene Brett vorm Kopf "Fehlalarm"-Arzt Sucharit Bhakdi mit Satirepreis ausgezeichnet tr. The golden board in front of the head "False alarm"-doctor Sucharit Bhakdi awarded with a satire prize 15 December 2020 www.kleinezeitung.at, accessed 18 December 2020
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