Note: The following information is contained in the website http://www.circinfo.net/, and it has been copied with permission. This is not an exact copy of all the information found on the website http://www.circinfo.net/. For an exact text of the information contained in that site, please go onto the above mentioned site.
Professor Brian J. Morris
Brian J. Morris was born in 1950 in Adelaide , South Australia , graduated from University of Adelaide and obtained his PhD in Melbourne in 1975, before doing 3 years of postdoctoral research in the USA at University of California , School of Medicine , San Francisco and University of Missouri , Columbia .
He was appointed as an academic at The University of Sydney in 1978, won the Edgeworth David Medal (state award for science) in 1985, was awarded a DSc in 1993, and was appointed to a Chair in the School of Medical Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine from 1999.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
I am a university professor who teaches medical and science students and who has over 37 years of medical research experience, including that involving genital cancer virology, as well as molecular biology and genetics of cardiovascular disease. I have 240 publications, many in high-ranking journals.
I am not Jewish, nor a medical practitioner or lawyer, so have no religious bias or medico-legal concerns that might get in the way of a rational presentation of the information that has been published in reputable journals. I have no involvement in clinical medicine. I don't care what a person's circumcision status is.
What I do care about is that professionals and the public alike be provided with reliable, well-researched information. I see this as part of my academic duty in the interests of education. It is then up to each person to apply this knowledge when making decisions in their own best interest or in the best interests of their children or patients. Please therefore note that this website is a review of the literature. It is not my personal opinion.
I came across this subject by chance from my work starting in the mid 1980s on human papilloma (wart) virus (HPV) in the causation of cervical cancer. (The technology I applied to detect HPV types, PCR, has been awarded US, European and Australian patents.) This research area brought me into contact with scientists and clinicians who specialized in sexually transmitted infections (STIs) generally.
I was particularly struck by the evidence in the medical literature for a role of the foreskin in transmission of HIV to men. In fact I was at a (hypertension) conference in Niarobi in 1989 when the early paper in Lancet from Plummer's group [28] came out.
By coincidence this study was conducted in this same Kenyan city. That paper put into context the stories I was hearing in Africa and back home, about the huge AIDS problem in that continent, and its spread to other parts of the world. My discussions about this with others in Sydney led me to becoming seen as some sort of "local expert" on circumcision in prevention of STIs.
As a result I was invited to give a talk on STIs to the "Fellowship of Jewish Doctors" at a symposium they held on surgical, legal, religious and STI aspects of circumcision (my assigned topic of course being STIs). To prepare for this I carried out a detailed literature search and compiled much information, which I then condensed into a 30 min talk. The talk I gave was taped, with a view to publishing a transcript in the newsletter of this group. However, the tape was not of good quality and I was asked if I would write up what I had said.
Eventually I got around to doing this. I then thought that such a literature review might be helpful to others seeking the truth about circumcision, especially if they went to the web and were confused after reading the misinformation and campaign material of the various anti-circ groups.
I have updated the site several times over the years. A publisher (UNSW Press) noted that my website had attracted a large number of "hits" (60,000 per year) and after checking around saw an opportunity for a book. I agreed to their request and a year or so later this appeared, with the somewhat provocative title the publisher chose for it of "In Favour of Circumcision".
Really, my only reward for contributing this publication is, just as this website, the information it provides others and thus the health and well-being of the community. (Information on how to order this book is provided in this website.)
As intimated, a vast amount of what is mostly misinformation permeates the internet. This is mostly from anti-circ groups. One might ask if they think "the bigger the noise the more likely it is one might be heard"? As I scientist I have been offended by the deviation of such "propaganda" from the overall message from the numerous research findings I have read in the many medical and scientific articles in reputable professional journals.
I know from the email I get that my site has been of great help to many parents and other men and women seeking reliable information on circumcision. Finally, I should add that I similarly promote the health messages emanating from medical research findings in other areas.
I am thus anti-tobacco (being a member of the NonSmokers Movement of Australia for 25 years), anti-alcohol in excess, anti-junk food, anti high fat diets, anti meat consumption (I am not, however, opposed to the killing of animals for research or vermin control), anti-dairy, pro human breasts milk in preference to bovine milk for babies (and pro breast feeding), pro seafood (omega-3, etc in prevention of cardiovascular disease), anti eating to excess, pro moderate exercise, pro immunization, pro non-soap based cleansers for the human body (the skin is our biggest organ and the class of chemicals used to wash dishes or floors should not be exposed to living tissue), as well as supporting all health and well being messages that should be familiar to most educated people (even though not all of these people put them into practice).
I am also concerned about the environment as a member of GreenPeace, even though I do not agree with all of their tactics. I am happily married with a European-born wife and two young female children. I married her when I was 42.