The US Center for Science in the Public Interest is calling on organisations and researchers to sign a letter asking the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) to reveal ties to industry among scientists on its advisory committees. The centre's “integrity in science” project is starting by targeting speakers at a national conference next month on screening for neonatal herpes.

The centre is asking organisations and researchers to sign a letter protesting at the fact that four of the five speakers at the NIH conference on 20 February have undisclosed ties to companies that make antiviral drugs to treat herpes.

The draft letter, which was shown to the BMJ by a US scientist, is addressed to Elias …