[1] Hooker formerly managed applied plant and fungal molecular biology research projects, including development of plant-based biosensors and transgenic production systems for human pharmaceutical proteins and industrial enzymes at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where systems biology researchers are focused on understanding gene and protein networks involved in individual cell signaling, communication between cells in communities, and cellular metabolic pathways.
[citation needed] Hooker and Andrew Wakefield have alleged scientific fraud, conspiracy, and coverup on the part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with regard to the supposed link between vaccines and autism.
[7] In 2014, after talking to Thompson, Hooker published a paper titled "Measles-mumps-rubella vaccination timing and autism among young African American boys: a reanalysis of CDC data" in the journal Translational Neurodegeneration.
[9] The paper claimed that the 2004 study showed a statistically significant correlation between autism and the MMR vaccine among African-American boys if it was administered at a certain age.
[9] Later, the journal retracted the paper for scientific misconduct, saying that Hooker had not disclosed important conflicts of interest and that there were "concerns about the validity of the methods and statistical analysis".