The president of America’s prestigious Stanford University has resigned after the board of trustees concluded several academic reports he had authored on brain development and neurodegeneration contained manipulated data.
Dr Marc Tessier-Lavigne, who has spent seven years as president, authored 12 reports that contained falsified information, including lab panels that had been stitched together, panel backgrounds that were digitally altered and blot results taken from other research papers, reports NPR.
He was the principal author on five of the reports, and a co-author on seven. The board concluded that, on the reports he co-authored, he did not have a big role in publishing the facts and figures in question.
For the reports in which he was the principal author, the board found he did not know about the misrepresentations but could have overseen his lab better to identify others who may have been manipulating research.
It also found that Tessier-Lavigne, who has accepted the findings and conceded he could have done better, was not aggressive enough in correcting the incorrect data after publication.
“… I have never submitted a scientific paper without firmly believing those data were correct and accurately presented. But I agree that in some instances I should have been more diligent when seeking corrections. I regret that I was not,” he said in defence.
Of the five papers in which he was the principal author, he will retract three and issue corrections for the other two. Although he is stepping down as president from 31 August, he will remain a Stanford faculty member and continue his research.
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