Harvard Sued Over Stem Cell Paper Misconduct Investigation …

Brigham and Womens Hospital cardiac stem cell researcher Piero Anversa along with collaborator Annarosa Leri (pictured) are suingboth the hospital and Harvard Medical School as well as leaders at the institutions over a research misconduct investigation focused on Anversa and Leri.

Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson has been covering Anversa and for backgroundon this new lawsuit she wrote:

Work overseen by Dr. Piero Anversa, a professor of anesthesia at the Brigham, was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year whenone of his papers investigating the hearts ability to regenerate itself was retractedafter an internal probe revealed it had used compromised data. Another study overseen by Anversa that reported on an early clinical trial testing the use of heart stem cells in patients wasflaggeddue to the ongoing investigation into the integrity of certain data.

The issues with these studies prompted Brigham and Harvard to start investigating.

A key point of the suit against Harvard alleges that problems such as data manipulation inthe publications were the sole responsibility of a former scientist in the Anversa lab,Dr. Jan Kajstura, and that Anversa and Leri arenot responsible for these issues.

Remarkably, according to the Globe the investigation at the heart of the suit apparently examined and may have found evidence of alleged misconduct in more than 15 papers on whichthese scientists were authors.

The suit, which can be read here, asserts that the investigation has harmed the careers of Anversa and Leri. For example, the suits argues that the defendants:

have caused and are causing ongoing harm toPlaintiffs Dr. Piero Anversa and Dr. Annarosa Leris (collectively, Plaintiffs) reputations andcareers by conducting a procedurally and legally flawed investigation into alleged researchmisconduct at a Brigham laboratory

There is a great deal of interesting information in the lawsuit document itself. For example, it provides a window into how Harvard investigates matters. It also details three initial allegations of misconduct against Anversa and Leri:

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Harvard Sued Over Stem Cell Paper Misconduct Investigation ...