(No caption)
Professor Shawn McElmurry (WSU photo)
The Flint water crisis gets uglier.
Virginia Tech Professor Marc Edwards, who helped expose the Flint water crisis, accuses a Wayne State University engineer of falsifying a research proposal and exaggerating a work resume to obtain a big grant, Jonathan Oosting of The Detroit News reports.
Edwards confirmed Thursday that he filed a complaint with Michigan regulators against WSU Associate Professor Shawn McElmurry, who leads a research team that got $3 million from the state to investigate Genesee County’s 2014-15 Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. McElmurry, a 42-year-old Royal Oak resident, is a key witness in a criminal case against two high-ranking Michigan officials.
The News reports:
Edwards is accusing McElmurry of appropriating another researcher’s ideas for a proposal submitted to the National Institutes of Health and making false claims that he had worked on Flint water problems since 2010.
He “leveraged those falsifications” to obtain state grant funding, Edwards said in the March 1 complaint, alleging McElmurry’s “lack of competence and expertise” contributed to ongoing prosecution of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon and state Chief Medical Executive Dr. Eden Wells.
McElmurry denies Edwards’ allegations in an email to The News, saying it is “very unfortunate when individuals resort to personal and unfounded attacks rather than relying on sound science and rigorous methods.”
“I stand by the quality of our science and the integrity of our work in Flint and deny the allegations recently raised,” he said. “The claims made against our group are false and they are examples of unprofessional and destructive conduct.”
Responding to another Michigan publication, the Wayne State professor -- who has an environmental engineering doctorate (2008) and master's (2002) from Michigan State -- tells MLive via email:
"It is very unfortunate when individuals who are unable to defend their work on the scientific merits resort to personal attacks. Personal attacks do not help advance our understanding or help the people of Flint.
"Our work has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication in some of the most prestigious scientific journals in the nation. I stand by the quality of our science and the integrity of our work in Flint."
