Martha Herbert

Martha Reed Herbert
Alma materUniversity of California, Santa Cruz, PhD Columbia University, MD
Known forAutism research
Autism-related pseudoscience
Anti-vaccine activism
Scientific career
FieldsChild psychiatry
WorkplacesHarvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital
ThesisEvolution as a learning process in Marx, Piaget and Habermas (1981)

Martha Herbert is an American physician and assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School[1] and pediatric neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Herbert is also director of the TRANSCEND program at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging.[2] Herbert has falsely labeled the vaccine preservative thimerosal unsafe and promoted unproven alternative autism treatments.

Education

Herbert graduated, and received her medical degree, from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons after obtaining a doctoral degree at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She trained in evolutionary biology and the development of learning processes, and performed postdoctoral work in the philosophy and history of science.[3]

Career

Herbert began seeing patients in a psychiatry clinic in 1996; these patients presented with a variety of psychological disabilities, including headaches, seizures, behavioral-control problems, obsessions, and tics. However, as time went on she began seeing a higher proportion of autistic children. Around the same time, she was conducting a number of neuroimaging studies on differences in the brains of autistic children, and as a result of this research, she concluded that autism is a disorder that affects the entire body, not just the brain.[4]

Autism research and pseudoscientific claims

Herbert has claimed that many autistic children have biomedical problems, and that these problems make autistic traits more pronounced.[5] Her research focuses on attributing the development of autism to the existence of certain predisposing genes, with her coauthors on this topic including Peter Szatmari.[6] In addition, some of her research focuses on the possible existence of enlarged superficial white matter in the brains of people with autism, as well as developmental language disorder.[7][8][9][10]

Views on environmental autism causes

Herbert does not believe autism is solely caused by genetic inheritance and has suggested that anyone who discounts environmental factors is unwilling to face a harsh reality that involves the complicity of researchers, corporations and authority figures.[11] In 2004, Herbert gave the following statement to Mother Jones:

"To cling to a purely genetic explanation for autism is a desperate attempt to maintain the illusion that one lives in a comfortable and rational world where new chemicals and technologies always mean progress; experts are always objective and thorough; corporations are honest; and authorities can be trusted. ... That human actions, rather than genes, might be responsible for compromising the health of a significant proportion of a whole generation is so painful as to be, for many, unthinkable."[11]

Herbert wrote an opinion paper in 2010 that argued, among other things, "Systemic and central nervous system pathophysiology, including oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction can be consistent with a role for environmental influence."[12]

In 2013, Herbert co-authored a case report published by the Journal of Child Neurology, which described an autistic patient who improved markedly after she was placed on a gluten-free, casein-free diet.[13] Meta-analyses by other researchers published in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2020 found insufficient or inconsistent evidence regarding the efficacy of gluten-free or casein-free diets as an autism treatment, with some recommending that such diets only be prescribed to patients with specific conditions proven to benefit from them (such as food allergies or intolerances).[14][15][16][17][18] In 2022, the United Kingdom's National Health Service included exclusion diets — including gluten-free and casein-free diets — on a list of alternative autism treatments it found showed no benefit and did not recommend to the public.[19]

Thimerosal and vaccines

Herbert wrote the introduction for anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2014 book, Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak,[20] in which Kennedy made the false claim that the vaccine preservative thimerosal caused autism.[21] In the introduction, Herbert labeled the book "aggressively pro-vaccine" and posited that one could be in favor of vaccination while still advocating for the removal of thimerosal from vaccines.[20]

Herbert claimed that Kennedy's book presented "voluminous evidence" that thimerosal was toxic and stated, "To say otherwise is to pick a fight with the periodic table and the fundamental principles of physical chemistry." She also claimed that any argument that there was "no definitive proof" that vaccines or thimerosal caused autism was irrelevant given thimerosal's alleged toxicity.[20]

It is scientific consensus that there is no link between any vaccine or vaccine ingredient and autism[22][23][24] and that the thimerosal used as a preservative in some vaccines is not harmful.[25][26]

The Autism Revolution

Herbert is also the author of a book, The Autism Revolution: Whole-Body Strategies for Making Life All It Can Be, published in 2012 by Ballantine Books. In the book, she recounts stories of autistic children who followed recommendations to receive unconventional autism treatments, and whose conditions improved, "sometimes dramatically so", according to Herbert.[27] It was reviewed in The Washington Post,[27] the Journal of Hospital Librarianship,[28] and Kirkus Reviews.[29]

The Washington Post reviewer Maggie Fazeli Fard stated, "It is unclear, however, what makes this book 'revolutionary.' Her [Herbert's] holistic approach isn’t unheard of in medicine and Herbert herself acknowledges that her strategies aren’t a cure; there’s no guarantee that any of her recommendations will work and what helps one person won’t necessarily help another."[27]

References

  1. ↑ "CMA Staff List". Center for Morphometric Analysis. Harvard University. Archived from the original on April 19, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
  2. ↑ "TRANSCEND Research Laboratory". Massachusetts General Hospital, Research Centers. Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved July 19, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Biography". Marthaherbert.org. April 16, 2011. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  4. ↑ Tommey, Polly. "The Autism Revolution: An Interview with Dr. Martha Herbert". The Autism File. Archived from the original on June 28, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  5. ↑ Macneil, Robert (April 20, 2011). "Autism Now: Dr. Martha Herbert Extended Interview". PBS. Archived from the original on April 24, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  6. ↑ Szatmari, Peter; Szatmari, Andrew D; Paterson, Lonnie; Zwaigenbaum, Wendy; Roberts, Jessica; Brian, Xiao-Qing; Liu, John B; Vincent, Jennifer L; Skaug, Ann P; Thompson, Lili; Senman, Lars; Feuk, Cheng; Qian, Susan E; Bryson, Marshall B; Jones, Christian R; Marshall, Stephen W; Scherer, Veronica J; Vieland, Christopher; Bartlett, La Vonne; Mangin, Rhinda; Goedken, Alberto; Segre, Margaret A; Pericak-Vance, Michael L; Cuccaro, John R; Gilbert, Harry H; Wright, Ruth K; Abramson, Catalina; Betancur, Thomas; Bourgeron, Christopher; et al. (2007). "Mapping autism risk loci using genetic linkage and chromosomal rearrangements". Nature Genetics. 39 (3): 319–28. doi:10.1038/ng1985. PMC 4867008. PMID 17322880.
  7. ↑ Herbert, Martha R.; Ziegler, David A.; Makris, Nikos; Filipek, Pauline A.; Kemper, Thomas L.; Normandin, Joseph J.; Sanders, Heather A.; Kennedy, David N.; Caviness Jr, Verne S. (2004). "Localization of white matter volume increase in autism and developmental language disorder". Annals of Neurology. 55 (4): 530–40. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.456.8337. doi:10.1002/ana.20032. PMID 15048892. S2CID 11115089. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses deprecated parameter |citeseerx= (help)
  8. ↑ Herbert, M. R.; Ziegler, D. A.; Deutsch, C. K.; O'Brien, L. M.; Kennedy, D. N.; Filipek, P. A.; Bakardjiev, A. I.; Hodgson, J.; Takeoka, M.; Makris, N.; Caviness Jr, V. S. (2004). "Brain asymmetries in autism and developmental language disorder: A nested whole-brain analysis". Brain. 128 (Pt 1): 213–226. doi:10.1093/brain/awh330. PMID 15563515.
  9. ↑ "2004 Grants Funded (CAN)". Autism Speaks. 2004. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  10. ↑ Blakeslee, Sandra (February 8, 2005). "Focus Narrows in Search for Autism's Cause". New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2014.
  11. 1 2 Rock, Andrea (March 2004). "Toxic Tipping Point". Mother Jones. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  12. ↑ Herbert, MR (2010). "Contributions of the environment and environmentally vulnerable physiology to autism spectrum disorders". Current Opinion in Neurology. 23 (2): 103–10. doi:10.1097/WCO.0b013e328336a01f. PMID 20087183. S2CID 17280526.
  13. ↑ Herbert, M. R.; Buckley, J. A. (2013). "Autism and Dietary Therapy: Case Report and Review of the Literature". Journal of Child Neurology. 28 (8): 975–82. doi:10.1177/0883073813488668. PMID 23666039. S2CID 6592497.
  14. ↑ Mulloy, Austin; Lang, Russell; O’Reilly, Mark; Sigafoos, Jeff; Lancioni, Giulio; Rispoli, Mandy (July 1, 2010). "Gluten-free and casein-free diets in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review". Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. 4 (3): 328–339. doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2009.10.008. ISSN 1750-9467.
  15. ↑ Buie, Timothy (May 1, 2013). "The Relationship of Autism and Gluten". Clinical Therapeutics. 35 (5): 578–583. doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2013.04.011. ISSN 0149-2918. PMID 23688532.
  16. ↑ Marí-Bauset, Salvador; Zazpe, Itziar; Morales-Suárez-Varela, María (April 30, 2014). "Evidence of the Gluten-Free and Casein-Free Diet in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Systematic Review". Journal of Child Neurology. 29 (12) – via Sage Journals.
  17. ↑ Lange, Klaus W.; Hauser, Joachim; Reissmann, Andreas (November 1, 2015). "Gluten-free and casein-free diets in the therapy of autism:". Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care. 18 (6): 572–575. doi:10.1097/MCO.0000000000000228. ISSN 1363-1950.
  18. ↑ Baspinar, Busra; Yardimci, Hulya (June 5, 2020). "Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet for Autism Spectrum Disorders: Can It Be Effective in Solving Behavioural and Gastrointestinal Problems?". The Eurasian Journal of Medicine. 52 (3): 292–297. doi:10.5152/eurasianjmed.2020.19230. ISSN 1308-8742. PMC 7651765. PMID 33209084.
  19. ↑ "Treatments that are not recommended for autism". National Health Service. December 16, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  20. 1 2 3 Kennedy Jr., Robert F. (2014). Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. pp. xi–xx. ISBN 978-1-63220-601-5.
  21. ↑ "RFK Jr. Joins the Anti-Vaccine Fringe". Time. July 21, 2014. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  22. ↑ "The Evidence on Vaccines and Autism | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health". Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. March 19, 2025. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Vaccines and Autism | Children's Hospital of Philadelphia". Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  24. ↑ "No. Vaccines do not cause autism. Deconstructing the myth." Immunize Canada. March 5, 2026. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Vaccine Ingredients: Thimerosal". Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Vaccine Education Center. June 1, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  26. ↑ "Fact Checked: Extensive Research Shows Thimerosal is Safe". American Academy of Pediatrics. July 15, 2025. Retrieved May 4, 2026.
  27. 1 2 3 Fard, Maggie Fazeli (April 8, 2013). "Autism book by Harvard researcher offers holistic strategies but no guarantees". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 28, 2014.
  28. ↑ Michiya, Kelly (April 2013). "The Autism Revolution by Martha Herbert". Journal of Hospital Librarianship. 13 (2): 184–186. doi:10.1080/15323269.2013.772440. S2CID 73827069.
  29. ↑ "The Autism Revolution". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
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