Anti-vaccine prof no longer teaching class at Queen’s

A Queen’s University professor under fire for using anti-vaccination material in a health course will no longer be teaching that course, the university said.

A spokeswoman told the Star Monday evening that Melody Torcolacci has requested and has been granted leave from teaching Physical Determinants of Health (HLTH 102) for the remainder of the term.

“Discussions around her other classes are ongoing,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.

Torcolacci, an adjunct professor in the university’s school of kinesiology and health, did not respond to requests for comment.

Torcolacci was accused last week of using information about vaccines and health that had been widely challenged by medical experts.

It was reported that students had previously complained about the material to their academic affairs commissioner.

Lecture slides sent to the Star and posted online, which appear to be from the class, ask the question, “Vaccines — Good or Bad?”

“No scientific evidence exists showing vaccines are NOT contributing to increased incidents of chronic illness and disability in children,” reads one slide.

The university’s kinesiology and health studies department then told the student government they were aware of the issue and would have a “conversation” with Torcolacci.

Queen’s principal Daniel Woolf said in a statement that while the university is “committed” to academic freedom, it expects faculty members to, among other things, present information objectively and “declare their biases.”

The university itself, though, does not have a policy on being “for or against” vaccines, provost Alan Harrison told the Star last week. With files from Katrina Clarke