Officials continue their investigation on the Oct. 20 flooding of UCLA Professor Edythe London’s Beverly Hills home by animal rights activists, which was one of multiple attacks on university faculty in recent years.
The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the flooding and sent communications which were distributed as a press release on Monday, where London is called an “animal abuser” who is responsible for “torturing nonhuman animals to death in outdated and unnecessary experiments.”
The group also links her to addicting lambs to cocaine and conducting secret experiments on adolescent smoking. She called the allegations “outrageous hyperbole.”
London is the director of the Laboratory of Molecular Neuroimaging at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. She is also a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences as well as molecular and medical pharmacology.
She said her efforts in neurochemistry are motivated because of the poor treatment options currently available for drug abuse.
“I personally made a lifelong commitment to research on human brain function, particularly related to drug abuse,” she said. “I did it without concern for personal safety because I didn’t realize I’d be on the battlefront.”
She said while animals are used in research relating to drug abuse, no animals were ever given an addictive amount of drugs.
“In order to understand how chemicals change in our brain … it is true that nonhuman primates have received drugs of abuse related to research,” she said, referring to drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamine.
“The monkeys that receive drugs of abuse … aren’t addicted,” she said.
She added that researchers are mindful of the animal subjects used in their studies.
“The other thing that one needs to consider is that any research that (is) done at UCLA is done by investigators that are very, very seriously concerned about the welfare and humane treatment of (animal) subjects,” she said.
London also addressed accusations of conducting secret experiments about adolescent smoking and explained that when activist groups submitted an inquiry for information, some requested documents contained blacked-out information.
“The fact that the material was redacted to protect the identity of researchers working with animals … unfortunately gave the impression that there was something secretive about what we are doing,” she said.
She is not the first UCLA faculty member to be targeted by the Animal Liberation Front. The same group also claimed responsibility for the failed firebomb attack on Professor Arthur Rosenbaum’s car in June.
In July 2006, the group also claimed responsibility for an attack against Lynn Fairbanks, a UCLA professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences who conducts behavioral research on primates. A bomb was mistakenly placed at the door of her neighbor’s house but failed to detonate, according to Daily Bruin archives.
In a statement released Monday, Chancellor Gene Block said other faculty members have also been subjected to threatening phone calls, e-mails, and property trespass and damage from animal rights activists.
Both the flooding and the attempted bombings are still under investigation, said Laura Eimiller, a Los Angeles FBI spokeswoman.
She added that FBI officials are working with the university, as well as directly with the Los Angeles Police Department, which is part of their Joint Terrorism Task Force. Investigators have also collaborated with fire officials to examine the incendiary devices from the previous incidents.
London said despite the vandalism, she has not been deterred in her efforts to advance drug abuse research.
“After one makes a 30-year commitment to the field, it’s very hard to walk away because terrorists are threatening us,” she said.
“I think it would be less than responsible to stop devoting all the energy that I have to fighting the problem of drug abuse in the county. The best way I know how to do this is with biomedical basic research.”
She said she believes university officials should be aware of the threats that researchers like herself face from activist groups.
“What I’ve learned is that I think there is a need for the academic community to protect the academic freedom of folks like myself who are under attack,” she said, adding that attacks can threaten her ability to continue lifesaving work.
University and FBI officials are offering rewards for information leading to the conviction of responsible parties. Eimiller said a reward of up to $60,000 is offered in relation to the Fairbanks case and up to $110,000 in the Rosenbaum case.