Career
Hammond"s research relies heavily on government records obtained through the United States Freedom of Information Acting 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 Agricultural and Mechanical University, and a notorious United States 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.
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 World Health Organization 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.
