By Wendi Montgomery
This article was originally published in Ignite Liberty in 2021, which is no longer available and has been republished here. Some reference links have been removed.
In 2001, just before the 9/11 terror attacks, the former governor of Oklahoma, Frank Keating, participated in a bioterrorism simulation event in Washington, DC called “Dark Winter”. This was a simulation to gauge the response of local, state, and federal agencies to a biological weapons outbreak of smallpox in the US, originating in Oklahoma City. Governor Keating, after the simulation asserted that it was his belief that the agent of choice for bioterrorists would smallpox, or, curiously, anthrax. In 2003 the newly created Department of Homeland Security held another exercise named Silent Vector, once again to gauge response to a bioterrorist attack to try and solve the issues that arose during the Dark Winter simulation.
In 2004 the NIAID started funding research at OU into anthrax bacteria, through the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation. The lead investigator cited the threat of a bioweapons attack, and the objective was to, according to the abstract, determine why the anthrax vaccine used by the DOD on our soldiers wasn’t working. This was recently renewed in 2019 for five more years, which made the local news. This is the same vaccine that was reported in the VAERS system to have multiple serious side effects for an alarming number of recipients compared to other traditional vaccines. The Anthrax Vaccine that is approved for use in the US works in a way that sounds extremely familiar. A protein, one of the toxins of anthrax, is introduced into the body to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies to anthrax. The vaccine schedule is also very familiar. Five shots and a yearly booster, because the effects of the vaccine wane quickly.
NIAID Funding
The funding from the NIAID is renewed every year, is ongoing, and is as follows:
*The initial grant to OU was written and awarded to J Donald Capra and was funded by the NIAID, which appointed Joseph Breen from the NIH as the Program Official. Both researchers and Program Officials have changed since that time. Notes will be made on the changes. Two other universities are involved with OU in this research.
Molecular and Immunologic Analysis of the Pathobiology of Anthrax
- 2004 – $2,760,181
- 2005- $2,818,251
- 2006- $2,728,833
- 2007- $2,578,694. *Change of research lead to Kenneth Coggeshall and addition of a new project entitled ‘Primate modeland Pathogenesis of Anthrax Sepsis’, $476,212, lead researcher Shinichiro Kurosawa.
- 2008- $2,616,353
- 2009- $2,986,968
- 2010- $2,991,269
- 2011- $2,840,289
- 2012- $2,776,772
- 2013- $2,703,462
- 2014- 2,910,854. *Change of Program Official at NIH to Cheryl Lapham. Note on the renewal states that after 6 vaccines 30% of the vaccinated aren’t protected and the research team does not recommend these vaccines for civilians due to their questionable efficacy.
- 2015- $2,898, 581. *Change of Program Official at NIH to Lakshmi Ramachandra.
- 2016- 2 grants submitted for this year. One is the above research. $2,898,581. Another is to study anthrax infections for $225,590. The indirect costs of this research approach $1 million dollars for this year. *Change of Program Official to Chao Jiang at the NIH. This official is a graduate of Fudan University in China, linked by our government to the Youth Thousand Talents Plan.
- 2017- $2,898,581. Exact same expenses as the year before.
- 2018- $2,898,581. Exact same funding amount for the third year in a row. Indirect costs down only slightly.
- 2019- $2,267,196. Direct funding costs decreased.
- 2020- 4 separate grants awarded for the same study. $476,466 with $18,000 in indirect costs, $2,229,796 with over $800,000 in indirect costs, $916,783 with $376,553 in indirect costs, $832,784 with $351,306 in indirect costs.
- 2021- $2,447,356.
The total cost to taxpayers is nearly $52 million over 17 years to try and determine why an arguably unnecessary and unsafe vaccine doesn’t work as it should. Meanwhile, the research has yielded other finding on Anthrax bacteria and how it interacts with cells during infection. If one figures out how the human body responds to any pathogen, one can figure out how to disable the body’s immune system to become more susceptible to it, as well as potential enable the immune system or any vaccine to work more effectively. For the past 6 years, someone affiliated directly to a Chinese university, where the Chinese government controls the research, has been the program official for the NIH on this potentially dangerous research.
It doesn’t matter how OU will use this. Oklahoma has already had one Chinese national stealing trade secrets convicted of corporate espionage. 15 The US government has warned states, universities, governors, and city officials recently about the dangers posed by potential Chinese infiltration into the United States. 16
Interestingly enough, the threat from an anthrax attack was just mentioned by the NIH. Why are we worried about this now, after anthrax has been out of the new cycle for some time? 51
More Research
Is there any other research that we, as American citizens, should be informed of that is occurring in universities in this state?
There are a few more studies with concerning ties that may need to be investigated that involve OU and OSU. One of them involves the Stephenson Cancer Research Center. 17 While the research itself seems innocuous, the university involved in this study is not. Huazhong University is listed as a location for the recruitment into the Chinese Youth Thousand Talents Plan[BA1] . This University is a research facility located in Wuhan, China, with ties to the Chinese military. They focus on biological weapons research as well as AI and other military interests. While looking into OU grants, I ran across other NIAID grants awarded to OU and ran across this individual[BA2] , who is followed on LinkedIn by another interesting individual[BA3] . These researchers are interesting because of their university affiliation in China, and work history in the United States if for no other reason. You can read about these individuals and their ties here.
OU Research Partners
Why is OU allowing research partnerships with questionable links that could have national security implications for the United States?
While searching for NIAID funding grants in Oklahoma, this information popped up on Oklahoma State University. A little digging revealed that there are concerns there, as well, unfortunately. OSU is actively engaging with Chinese Universities through a program developed in 2010, to bring Chinese students from Chinese Universities to Oklahoma. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. It depends on the universities involved. There is at least one affiliation to the Young Chinese Thousand Talents Plan mentioned on OSU’s website.
More digging into the NIAID funding to OSU revealed a few more concerning projects. One is a half a million-dollar grant to study proteins led by someone [BA4] who graduated from Zhejiang University, listed in the YCTTP. Going through the study’s abstract a couple of questions came to mind. Including how this research could be used in potential viral gain of function research. The question should be asked considering we are now using proteins in substances purported to be helping our immune systems combat viruses by breaking into our cells to deposit viral RNA, which would otherwise be killed naturally by our immune system.
Monkey Pox
Even more digging yielded this find which has now become more concerning given the recent news about a world-wide monkey pox outbreak. Unfortunately, more links to Chinese universities tied to the YCTTP and the Chinese military.
Monkey pox is not deadly, unlike the smallpox virus. Besides the research concern into possible gain of function research on pox viruses, and the biography of the Program Official at the NIH for this research 44, is the news that there is a live virus vaccine for the monkeypox. It is a hybrid vaccine that also works for smallpox. There is a question how injecting a live virus into the body of someone with a compromised immune system would work. The FDA, perplexingly, approved this live virus vaccine in 2019, just before the COVID19 outbreak. The target demographic for this vaccine is those younger than 50, who would not have already been vaccinated against the smallpox.
Research Centers at OSU
Also of concern is the new Oklahoma Center for Respiratory and Infectious Diseases located at OSU. The person who secured the grant money has ties to yet another Chinese university [BA5] with direct ties to the Chinese military.
Why is OSU getting involved in the mix with researchers who have these kinds of ties?
All of this may be above board and there may be nothing to worry about. I am sure these are fine researchers, and this is important work that can be used for the good of mankind. It can also be used to harm mankind. I hope there are extra mechanisms in place to ensure that none of this research makes it to the wrong hands in China and that these researchers are safe from the reach of the Chinese government. China is not above threatening their citizens and holding families hostage, as has been widely reported over the years.
Quickly back to OU for this last bit. I made note of this, considering the research that has discovered that the COVID19 virus is a chimera. A chimera is an entity that is made up of the genetic code from two distinct organisms. Has any of this type of research been going on in Oklahoma university labs? Yes. Including human/mice[BA6].
Conclusion
Unfortunately, it does appear that our elections aren’t the only things in Oklahoma that require serious investigation. Considering the track record of the NIH and especially the NIAID under Dr. Anthony Fauci and the ties that have been found between that organization and China, Oklahoma should be making sure that all this research is above board, and nothing is being shared with bioweapons labs in China.
- [BA1] For those people who aren’t familiar with what this is, you might explain it and share how it poses a serious security risk to the United States. Perhaps even connect the dots between this program and the gain of function research with Covid.
- [BA2] Who? Go ahead and name the person.
- [BA3] Same as above…go ahead and name the individual.
- [BA4] Go ahead and name the individual
- [BA5] Let’s spell out that connection in detail.
- [BA6] Let’s elaborate on this as well. This is good stuff!