Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos

Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos (born in Greece [ [http://www.aidstruth.org/Supreme-Court-of-South-Australia.pdf SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, R v PARENZEE, Reasons for Decision of The Honourable Justice Sulan] ] ) is the leader of the Perth Group, a group of AIDS denialists who have claimed since 1988 that HIV has never been fully isolated. [ [http://theperthgroup.com/aboutpg.html About the Perth Group] . From the Perth Group website. Accessed 31 Jan 2007.] Papadopulos-Eleopulos has an undergraduate degree in nuclear physics from the University of Bucharest and has worked as a medical technician at Royal Perth Hospital in Australia. [ [http://www.aidstruth.org/Supreme-Court-of-South-Australia.pdf SUPREME COURT OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, R v PARENZEE, Reasons for Decision of The Honourable Justice Sulan] ] She has not been involved with research into AIDS or HIV at the hospital.

Views on HIV/AIDS

In the view of the Perth Group, the scientific community has failed to prove:

#That HIV exists as a unique, exogenously acquired retrovirus.
#That HIV antibody tests are specific for HIV infection.
#That HIV causes acquired immune deficiency (destruction of T helper cells, known as AID) or that AID leads to the development of the clinical syndrome AIDS.
#That the HIV genome (RNA or DNA) originates in a unique, exogenously acquired infectious retroviral particle.
#That HIV/AIDS is infectious, either by blood, blood products or sexual intercourse.
#That a retrovirus HIV may be transmitted from mother to child or that this transmission may be inhibited with AZT or nevirapine.

The Perth Group's work has been roundly rejected by the mainstream scientific community; there is broad scientific consensus that HIV has been adequately isolated and shown to be the cause of AIDS. [ [http://www.niaid.nih.gov/Factsheets/evidhiv.htm National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease Fact Sheet: The Evidence that HIV Causes AIDS] . Accessed 31 Jan 2007.] [ [http://www.aegis.org/topics/hiv_exist.html "HIV, AIDS, and the Distortion of Science" by Michael Coon.] Accessed 1 Nov 2006.] [ [http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/news/focuson/hiv/resources/ "Focus on the HIV/AIDS Connection", from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Disease.] Accessed 1 Nov 2006.]

Published work

Papadopulos-Eleopulos' most notable published article, "Is a Western Blot Proof of HIV Infection?", [cite journal
last = Papadopulos-Eleopulos
first = Eleni
coauthors = Turner VF, Papadimitriou JM
title = Is a positive western blot proof of HIV infection?
journal = Nature Biotechnology
volume = 11
issue = 6
pages = 696–707
publisher = Nature Publishing Company
date = 1993 June
pmid = 7763673
accessdate = 2006-10-30 ] appeared in "Bio/technology" in June 1993, when the journal was under the editorship of AIDS denialist Harvey Bialy. She has had approximately a dozen other articles published in lower-impact scientific journals, such as "Genetica", "Current Medical Research and Opinion", and "Medical Hypotheses," including non-peer-reviewed publications. She has also contributed letters to various scientific journals including "The Lancet" and "British Medical Journal".

Academic credentials

Some dissident websites refer to "Dr." Papadopulos-Eleopulos and claim that she has been a professor of medical physics at Royal Perth Hospital, a teaching hospital at the University of Western Australia. [cite web | url=http://www.virusmyth.net/aids/whistleblowers.htm | title = Whistle Blowers | work = virusmyth.net | accessdate = 2006-10-30 ] However, according to a presentation by John P. Moore, Ph.D., at the XVI International AIDS Conference, she has no academic appointment. [cite web | url=http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/uploaded_files/081306_ias_sat_journalism.pdf | title=HIV Science and Responsible Journalism | work=XVI International AIDS Conference | date=2006-08-13 | accessdate = 2006-10-30] Moreover she does not hold a doctorate; her highest academic degree is a Bachelor of Science degree in nuclear physics from the University of Bucharest. Her duties at the Royal Perth Hospital are to test people for sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation.

The Royal Perth Hospital has stated that it does not share the views of Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos, who does not work in HIV research or with AIDS patients. [cite news | first=Clara | last=Pirani | title=Doubts on HIV's existence 'insane' | date=2006-10-27 | url =http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20653274-5006789,00.html | work =The Australian | accessdate = 2006-10-30] According to the hospital's executive director, Philip Montgomery:

Appearance at the appeal trial of Andre Parenzee

In late 2006 and early 2007, Papadopulos-Eleopulos and fellow Perth Group member Dr Valendar Turner testified at the appeal for retrial of an HIV-positive man, Andre Chad Parenzee, who had been convicted on three counts of endangering life through having unprotected sex without informing his partners of his HIV status. Papadopulos-Eleopulos and Turner told the Supreme Court of South Australia that Parenzee should be acquitted because the existence of HIV had not been proven; HIV tests were unreliable; and there was no evidence for sexual transmission of HIV.R v PARENZEE [2007] SASC 143, [http://www.courts.sa.gov.au/judgments/Judgments2007/0427-SASC-143.htm Reasons for Decision of The Honourable Justice Sulan] , 27 April 2007]

In his ruling in April 2007, Justice John Sulan dismissed the testimony of Papadopulos-Eleopulos and Turner and rejected the application for a retrial. He said that the pair were not qualified to give expert opinions about the existence or nature of HIV and that, "the probative value of the evidence proposed to be called by the applicant is minimal." According to Justice Sulan:

References