evidence: This claim began with a study published in Aug. 2014 by Brian Hooker (who holds a doctorate in chemical engineering, but does not have a background in epidemiology), which reported "a statistically significant increase in autism cases specifically among African American males who received the first MMR [vaccine] prior to 36 months of age"[1] after reanalyzing the findings of a 2004 epidemiological study by scientists working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)[2]. [...] Snopes fact-checked this claim in 2014, and found it to be false: "Did collected data actually prove that the MMR vaccine produces a 340% increased risk of autism in African-American boys? The answer is no, it did not." [...] REFERENCES - 1 – Hooker BS. (2014) Measles-mumps-rubella vaccination timing and autism among young African American boys: a reanalysis of CDC data. Translational Neurodegeneration. [Note: This study was retracted.]