WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — Two top COVID lockdown sceptic scientists have founded a new academy dedicated to protecting the free exchange of ideas among scientists.
Professors Martin Kulldorff of Harvard University and Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University have established the Academy for Science and Freedom to combat the censorship of medical research. The new foundation is expected to open in a few months at Hillsdale College’s Washington D.C. campus. Kulldorff and Bhattacharya were two of the three men who proposed the Great Barrington Declaration, which argued for a focused approach to COVID-19 instead of blanket restrictions.
According to its website, the purpose of the new academy is to counteract “the recent and widespread abuses of individual and academic freedom made in the name of science.”
The Academy for Science and Freedom will “educate the American people about the free exchange of scientific ideas and the proper relationship between freedom and science in the pursuit of truth,” the website explains.
The new foundation further aims to “provide a framework for study and discourse that will serve to educate and inform the citizens and leaders who will be faced with the inevitable public health crises to come.”
Kulldorff and Bhattacharya have consistently challenged COVID-19 restrictions and offered alternative medical information. According to the U.K.’s Express, both professors found themselves labeled “alt-right” and “climate change deniers” because of their connection to the Great Barrington Declaration. Kulldorff’s new pariah status resulted in the suspension of his Twitter account in 2020.
“Our focus is on the scientific community and our goal is to inform how science operates so we don’t have the current cartel system in which small groups control us,” Kulldorff told the Express.
“At the moment, scientific debate is controlled, and we want to reform how science is funded, including promotions and publications.”
“We want to create this academy of freedom of discussion in science and make sure that Science keeps its proper place in society,” Bhattacharya added.
“No scientists have a monopoly on the truth and no scientist is omnipresent,” he continued.
“The level of suppression of freedom of discussion has been a shock to me during the pandemic.”
In a recent tweet, Bhattacharya listed the tools used to close down the free exchange of scientific ideas.
Big tech censorship, politicized media smears, and government propaganda were deployed to create an illusion of scientific concensus on lockdown, school closures, and other nonsense during the pandemic.
Great story by @thelucyjohnston https://t.co/zk7mELRsfb
— Jay Bhattacharya (@DrJBhattacharya) May 15, 2022
“Big tech censorship, politicized media smears, and government propaganda were deployed to create an illusion of scientific consensus on lockdown, school closures, and other nonsense during the pandemic,” he tweeted.