James Sherley
Encyclopedia
James Sherley is a biological engineer at Boston Biomedical Research Institute
Boston Biomedical Research Institute
Boston Biomedical Research Institute is located in 64 Grove Street, Watertown, Massachusetts. It is a non-profit institution concentrated on basic biomedical research to promote the understanding of human diseases .In 2008 it received a grant to establish a muscular dystrophy research center.-...

.

Sherley's education includes a B.S. from Harvard University and an M.D
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...

 and a Ph.D from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Arnold J. Levine, at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

, Princeton, New Jersey 1988 to 1991.
From 1991 to 1998 he was Associate Member, Division of Medical Science, Molecular Oncology Group, Fox Chase Cancer Center
Fox Chase Cancer Center
The Fox Chase Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center research facility and hospital located in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The main facilities of the center are located on property adjoining Burholme Park...

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a professor in Biological Engineering Division at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 from 1998 to 2007.

His awards include a 1993 Pew Scholar award and recipient of a 2006 NIH Director's Pioneer Award.

He is open about his opposition to human embryonic stem cell research, and instead, Sherley's research focuses on the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of adult stem cells. In 2006 he stated that cloning human embryos was wrong and that the research from embryonic stem cell research would not lead to a cure all. "Despite similar misinformation to the contrary, adult stem cell research is a viable and vibrant path to new medical therapies. Even calling them an alternative to embryonic stem cells misinforms the public." In 2010, Sherley was the named plaintiff in Sherley v. Sebelius, a case challenging federal (NIH) funding of embryonic stem cell research that has resulted in a suspension of much of the NIH funded research on embryonic stem cells.

In December 2006, Sherley announced he would protest MIT's decision to not grant him tenure by going on a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...

. He ended the strike 12 days later. He subsequently asserted that he would continue to show up for work on July 1, 2007, despite no longer having a position at MIT on that date.

Sherley, an African-American, was one of 23 black professors at MIT. As of October 2006, of the 988 faculty members, 165 or about 17% are ethnic minorities. He has stated that he believes that MIT has not given him the freedom to challenge scientific orthodoxy the way the institution would have for a white colleague. Some other colleagues and professors have defended Sherley, including MIT linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....

 professor Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...

 and Harvard medical school's George Church
George Church
George Church is an American molecular geneticist. He is currently Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and MIT, and a core faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University.With...

. Twenty senior faculty members who participated in evaluation of his tenure case issued a public statement saying that Sherley's evaluation was conducted with integrity and that he was treated fairly.

MIT professor Frank L. Douglas
Frank L. Douglas
Frank L. Douglas M.D., Ph.D. is a Guyanese American medical doctor and researcher. Douglas resigned from his appointment as a professor of practice at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in July 2007 after the university's administration refused to consider granting Assistant Professor James...

resigned in June 2007 in protest of MIT's refusal to consider granting Sherley tenure.
Bernard Loyd, African American MIT alum '83 and former MIT Corporation trustee, withdrew from activities supporting MIT July 2007 for similar reasons.

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