Philip Zack

Philip M. Zack, Lt. Col. (retired), Ph.D., DVM is an American microbiologist. 'Phil' Zack worked at USAMRIID in Fort Detrick through December 1991, then at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, then for Eli Lilly, and then for a company in Colorado acquired by St. Louis' Nexstar Financial Management.

The "Hartford Courant" newspaper ran a series of articles in December 2001 and January 2002 which discussed Dr. Zack as a "person of interest" in the 2001 anthrax attacks in the US, his relationship with Dr. Marian K. Rippy, and their harassment of Dr. Ayaad Assaad at USAMRIID in 1991. [ [http://www.anthraxinvestigation.com/hcourant.html Anthrax articles from the Hartford Courant ] ] After Zack had been fired from Fort Detrick, a surveillance camera recorded him being let in at 8:40 p.m. on Jan. 23, 1992, apparently by Dr. Marian Rippy. [ [http://www.ph.ucla.edu/EPI/bioter/anthraxmissingarmylab.html Anthrax Missing From Army Lab ] ]

Others have claimed Zack, who worked at Ft. Detrick where the anthrax came from, is a person of interest. [citeweb|title=Researchers Compare Anthrax Genomes|url=http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/02/pr0237.htm|publisher="National Science Foundation"|accessdate=2008-04-03] Dr. Philip Zack had the means, access to weaponized anthrax, exhibited hostile behaviours towards Dr. Ayaad Assaad, his colleague, and was caught on a security video two months after being fired entering without authorization a lab where anthrax samples went missing. The FBI knew of Zack and his unauthorized access to the lab, and Assaad had been questioned by the FBI in connection with the attacks. [Before the anthrax letters were reported in the media, but after they had been posted, a letter postmarked September 21 and addressed to the "Town of Quantico police" was received that accused Dr. Ayaad Assaad of being a terrorist who was planning a biological attack. As a result Assaad was questioned on October 2, 2001 by the FBI. The letter was analyzed by Don Foster, an expert in the field of textual analysis who found the writing to be a perfect match to a female officer at Ft. Detrick. The Amerithrax Task Force declared the letter a hoax and took no further action on it. [http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/Bioter/messageanthrax.html] ] [citeweb|title=FBI Retracing Steps In Anthrax Investigation|url=http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/Bioter/fbiretracing.html |publisher="UCLA"|accessdate=2008-04-03] [citeweb|title=Fort Detrick's anthrax mystery|url=http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2002/01/26/assaad/index_np.html|publisher=salon.com|accessdate=2008-04-03]

"Salon" magazine ran a story by Laura Rozen on January 26, 2002, which reported that Zack was among those: "eager to continue working on projects USAMRIID said they should stop. What followed, the documents reveal, were scientists sneaking into the Army biowarfare lab to work on pet projects after-hours and on weekends, former workers like Zack, who left in 1991, still being let in to do lab work, pressure applied to technicians to help out, documents going missing, and deliberate mislabeling of specimens among other efforts to hide unsanctioned lab work." [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20070218234111/dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2002/01/26/assaad/index_np.html?pn=2 Fort Detrick's anthrax mystery - Salon ] ]

According to the Zanesville Ohio Times Recorder, Dr. Zack was a member of the St. Nicholas Catholic Church when he lived in Ohio. [Zanesville Ohio Times Recorder (July 28, 1974)] (Some websites mistakenly claim he is Jewish, citing his name as evidence.)

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