Edward Hammond

Edward Hammond (born 1968 in San Antonio, Texas) is an American policy researcher and biosafety activist. From 1999 through 2007, he served as the Director of the United States office of the Austin, Texas-based Sunshine Project, managing its research program on biodefense, incapacitants and other issues.

Hammond's research relies heavily on government records obtained through the US Freedom of Information Act and other open government laws. His requests revealed Pentagon "non-lethal weapons" research of questionable legality under biological and chemical weapons laws, major flaws in Institutional Biosafety Committees, biosafety and security lapses at Texas A&M University, and a notorious US Air Force proposal to develop a "gay bomb." His research has been published by the Sunshine Project, in peer reviewed journals, and by news media.

Edward Hammond began his work on biotechnology-related policy in the early 1990s and was program officer for the Rural Advancement Foundation International, also known as RAFI, from 1995-1999. Hammond is also a member of the Pugwash Study Group on the Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions and the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

Current activities

After the suspension of the Sunshine Project in early 2008, Hammond has divided his time between Texas and Bogotá, Colombia. His recent work has focused on issues including destruction of smallpox virus stocks and pandemic influenza preparedness, particularly reform of the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance Network.

He maintains two public websites, one dedicated to influenza-related policy issues (called Immunocompetent), and the other to biodefense research in Texas. The latter, named The Biodefense Barbeque, pokes fun at biodefense laboratories by claiming to be the website of the "Texas Biodefense Alliance", a fictitious coalition of flunkies who have found unlikely success by dedicating themselves to government grants for biodefense research.