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A University of B.C. neuroscientist whose research was criticized by the World Health Organization has the academic freedom to pursue his controversial studies into vaccines and autism, the university says.

Christopher Shaw, a professor in the university’s department of ophthalmology and visual science, has produced research that implies there may be a link between autism and the aluminum found in some vaccines. His studies relied on animal models as well as correlations between aluminum content in vaccines and autism rates in a number of countries.

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The WHO’s Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety in 2012 reviewed two papers co-written by Shaw and found them to be “seriously flawed” by implying there is a causal link, rather than just a correlation, between autism and vaccines, according to a committee report.

In an interview with CBC last month, Shaw said that his studies don’t argue that “aluminum adjuvants are causing autism; we would never suggest that. (But) it does raise a lot of questions.”