Eric Feigl-Ding
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Eric Feigl-Ding
Born Eric Liang Ding
March 28, 1983 (age 36)
Shanghai, China
Nationality United States
Education
PhD (Harvard)
BA (Johns Hopkins)
Home town Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
Spouse(s) Andrea Feigl-Ding[1]
Scientific career
Fields Public health
Institutions Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Thesis Sex steroid hormones and type 2 diabetes risk (2007)
Website scholar.harvard.edu/ericding
Eric Liang Feigl-Ding (born March 28, 1983) is an American public health scientist who is currently a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[2] He is also the Chief Health Economist for Microclinic International. His research and advocacy have primarily focused on obesity reduction, cancer prevention, and drinking water safety. Feigl-Ding is a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow,[3] and a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.[4]

Feigl-Ding was also a candidate in the 2018 Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district,[5] as an advocate for public health, drug safety, and science.[6]

Contents
1 Early life and education
2 Work
3 Political campaign
4 Recognition and awards
5 References
6 External links
Early life and education
Feigl-Ding was born in Shanghai, China, and his family immigrated to the United States when he was five years old.[citation needed] He was raised in Central Pennsylvania, and was an alumnus of the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Health Care.[7] As a child, doctors diagnosed that he had developed a baseball-size tumor in his chest. He received an initial disease prognosis of less than five years to live,[8] but he survived with medical treatment he received at Hershey Medical Center.[citation needed]

He attended The Johns Hopkins University, graduating with Honors in Public Health and Phi Beta Kappa.[9] He earned his dual doctorate in epidemiology and nutrition from Harvard at age 23.[9] He attended Boston University School of Medicine,[10] but did not complete the M.D. degree.[citation needed]

Work
Feigl-Ding's work focuses on epidemiology, nutrition, health economics, and the prevention of population-wide disease. He is currently a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[2][9]

Feigl-Ding is also the Chief Health Economist and Director of Epidemiology of Microclinic International,[11] as co-principal investigator of several intervention programs for obesity and diabetes prevention in the US and abroad. He developed a 130-year cohort study of Major League Baseball regarding the dangers of obesity and mortality in athletes.[12] He has also developed and led public health programs for Bell County, Kentucky,[13] the Danish Ministry of Health,[14] and the UNRWA.[citation needed] Feigl-Ding has also served as a consultant to the World Health Organization,[citation needed] as a report chairman for the European Commission,[15] and as an expert member of the Global Burden of Disease Project.[citation needed]

One notable study by Feigl-Ding determined that Merck should have known the serious health risks of Vioxx several years before the drug was pulled off the market.[16][17]

Feigl-Ding is also known for developing a direct-to-science model for accelerating cancer research, and as advocate of crowdfunding for medical research.[8] His efforts, including the creation of the now-defunct Campaign for Cancer Prevention,[18][8] raised over $500,000 in public donations for innovative cancer research, and he led cancer prevention advocacy platforms totaling over 6 million members.[19]

Feigl-Ding also founded ToxinAlert.org, as a public alert tool to warn communities about drinking water contaminations to prevent future lead poisonings like the Flint Water Crisis.[20][21][22][23]

In January 2020, in a series of tweets, Feigl-Ding made claims about the 2019–20 coronavirus outbreak based on preprints.[24][25][26][27] According to Alexis Madrigal of The Atlantic, "Feigl-Ding’s tweets seem to approach the line of what professional ethics would permit public-health authorities to say."[24] Feigl-Ding later deleted the tweets,[27] moderated his tone,[24] and refrained from discussing preprints on Twitter;[27] however, the tweets had already been used by others to advance conspiracy theories about the virus.[27]

Political campaign
In 2018, Feigl-Ding ran in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district.[1] He campaigned on a progressive platform advocating science, healthcare for all, public health, and not taking corporate PAC money.[6]

During the new Pennsylvania 10th district primary, his grassroots campaign outraised every opponent with $300,000 in just 10 weeks, including the Republican incumbent Scott Perry.[citation needed] He received the most national endorsements in the primary, and garnered the support of individuals and groups including: Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA), DNC Vice-Chair and Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), 314 Action, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus's ASPIRE, Harrisburg City Council President Wanda Williams, United Brotherhood of Carpenters, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, and the International Union of Operating Engineers.[citation needed]

Feigl-Ding received 18% of the vote but lost the primary to George Scott.[5]

Recognition and awards
Feigl-Ding has published over 100 scientific papers, including major reports in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, PLoS Medicine, and The Lancet. As of February 2020, he had an h-index of 72.[28]

Feigl-Ding has received awards, including the Boston Chamber of Commerce's Outstanding Young Leader Award (2012),[29] the American Heart Association's Scott Grundy Excellence Award (2015),[30] the "Best of the American Heart Association" (2013, 2014, 2015),[citation needed] the Sigma Chi Mark V. Anderson Leadership Award (2016),[31] the CUGH's Global Health Project of the Year Prize (2014),[32] the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans (2008).[33] He is also a World Economic Forum Global Shaper.[4] He was recognized by Craigslist founder Craig Newmark as one of “16 People and Organizations Changing the World in 2012”.[34]