James Enstrom

James Eugene Enstrom (born 1943) is an American epidemiologist who has worked at the University of California, Los Angeles since 1976, where he is currently a retired researcher. His dissertation advisor was Nobel Laureate Melvin Schwartz and his elementary particle physics dissertation is posted on a Stanford website. During 1971-1973 he conducted postdoctoral research in physics in Group A at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, under the direction of Nobel Laureate Luis Alvarez and Professor Arthur Rosenfeld. He became interested in epidemiology in 1972 when he noticed a National Cancer Institute map that showed Utah with the lowest cancer death rate of any state in the United States. In 1973 he was able to initiate an epidemiological study of Cancer Mortality Among Mormons, who comprised 70% of the Utah population. This subsequently led to his Celeste Durant Rogers Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cancer Research during 1973-1976 at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1976 he obtained an M.P.H. in epidemiology and a Postdoctoral Certificate in cancer epidemiology under the direction of renowned UCLA School of Public Health Dean Lester Breslow.

Research In 1975, Enstrom published a study which found that Mormons in California had lower cancer rates than did other Californians.

BMJ study and controversy In 1996, Enstrom requested that the tobacco industry provide him with funds to conduct research into the health effects of passive smoking. From 1997 to 1998, he received three tobacco industry grants, the combined value of which was $700,000; most of this money was dedicated to his study on passive smoking. This study, published in BMJ in 2003, concluded that "The association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and coronary heart disease and lung cancer may be considerably weaker than generally believed." This study used data from one of the American Cancer Society's databases, which Enstrom had requested and received from the society. Michael Thun of the American Cancer Society criticized Enstrom for not informing the ACS that he had requested or received funding from the tobacco industry. In 2012, Enstrom filed a lawsuit in federal court against UCLA in response to them terminating his position there. The suit was represented by David A. French of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. In 2015, the case was settled, with UCLA allowing Enstrom to use the title "retired researcher" and continue to access university resources. Enstrom said that he was not entirely satisfied with the settlement, but he believed it was the best compromise that could have been reached in the case. Enstrom said, “I am a good scientist, a very honest scientist. If I didn’t fight I could have disappeared.”

Enstrom founded the Scientific Integrity Institute for the purpose of complementing Enstrom's own research, and serves as its president.