Ivy League university, Standford’s president Marc Tessier-Lavigne has said that he will be resigning in view of the serious flaws found in his five scientific research papers by an independent review.
Tessier-Lavigne said he would step down on Aug 31. The board of trustees had launched a review in December after allegations that he had engaged in fraud and unethical conduct related to research papers dating up to two decades back, according to an AP report.
Tessier-Lavigne in denial
Tessier-Lavigne who is a neuroscientist said that he has “never submitted a scientific paper without firmly believing that the data were correct and accurately presented.” However he qualifies this statement by saying that he should have been more diligent with his work and operated laboratories with more stringent controls.
Panelists say that the data had been manipulated multiple times but said it was not his fault and he was found not guilty of misconduct. The review found “serious flaws in the presentation of the research data”.
In fact the reporting about the above findings resulted in the journalist responsible Theo Baker receiving the George Polk journalism award. “The fact that we’re able to contribute to the scientific record being correct for five widely cited papers is important,” he said.
Although no fraud was found, the panel concluded that the paper on neurodegeneration which has the potential to do a lot for Alzheimer’s had a lot of problems. The research that went into the paper and presentation contained “various errors and shortcomings”.
Editor in chief of the science family of journals, H. Holden Thorp said that the problem was that people often think of scientists as individuals like Einstein and Mari Curie. The truth is researchers run laboratories filled with people, and everything that happens in that laboratory is a product of the many individuals who are there.
Although Tessier-Lavigne may not be guilty of research misconduct ultimately he is responsible for whatever happens in the lab. He said that he is resigning because he expects that people are going to throw stones at his ability to lead the university but he will continue on the faculty as its biology professor.
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