Sylvain Lesné must be held to account. But they probably will just suspend his access to the faculty lounge.
It's not just Lesné.
University of Minnesota scientist responds to fraud allegations in Alzheimer's research
While defending results, U researcher said it is "devastating" that a colleague might have doctored images.
Jeremy Olson | JULY 22, 2022 — 3:55PM
Dr. Karen Ashe, seen in 2011, defended the authenticity of her groundbreaking work.A senior University of Minnesota scientist said it is "devastating" that a colleague might have doctored images to prop up research, but she defended the authenticity of her groundbreaking work on the origins of Alzheimer's disease.
Dr. Karen Ashe declined to comment about a U investigation into the veracity of studies led by Sylvain Lesné, a neuroscientist she hired and a rising star in the field of Alzheimer's research. However, she criticized an article in Science magazine that raised concerns this week about Lesné, because she said it confused and exaggerated the effect the U's work had on downstream drug development to treat Alzheimer's-related dementia.
"Having worked for decades to understand the cause of Alzheimer disease, so that better treatments can be found for patients, it is devastating to discover that a co-worker may have misled me and the scientific community through the doctoring of images," Ashe said in an e-mail Friday morning. "It is, however, additionally distressing to find that a major scientific journal has flagrantly misrepresented the implications of my work."
Questions have surfaced about as many as 10 papers written by Lesné, and
often coauthored by Ashe and other U scientists, and whether they used manipulated or duplicated images to inflate the role of a protein in the onset of Alzheimer's. . .
. . . The U studies have been so influential on the course of Alzheimer's research over the past two decades that any evidence of manipulation or false study results could fundamentally shift thinking on the causes of the disease and dementia. The investigation also implicates two successful researchers on a key measure by which they are judged: their ability to pull in federal grants.
Lesné was a named recipient of $774,000 in National Institutes of Health grants specifically involving Aβ*56 from 2008 through 2012. He subsequently received more than $7 million in additional NIH grants related to the origins of Alzheimer's.
Lesné, who did not reply to an e-mail asking for comment, came to the U in 2002 . . .
https://www.startribune.com/senior-university-of-minnesota-scientist-responds-to-fraud-allegations-in-alzheimers-research/600192351/
