Last week, The Lancet honored a co-author’s request to remove his name from Paolo Macchiarini’s seminal 2011 paper, which described the first transplant of an artificial trachea seeded with autologous stem cells but has since come under fire. On March 3, the journal posted this notice: The Lancet has been contacted by Dr KH Grinnemo … Continue reading Whistleblower removed from Macchiarini’s Lancet author list
A promising early career researcher has been dismissed from her post at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) in Spain, following “an alleged ongoing fraud,” according to El Pais. We don’t know what exactly the internal investigation into Susana González’s work found; El Pais relied on anonymous sources, and the CNIC confirmed only that they dismissed her on February 29th. … Continue reading Stem cell researcher in Spain dismissed following investigation
This week at Retraction Watch featured seven retractions in a long-running case involving cancer research, as well as the retraction of a paper claiming a link between a vaccine and behavioral issues. Here’s what was happening elsewhere:
The first author of two high-profile Nature retractions about a technique to easily create stem cells has lost another paper in Nature Protocols. Haruko Obokata, once “a lab director’s dream,” according to The New Yorker, also had her PhD revoked from Waseda University last fall. After learning of concerns that two figures are “very similar” and “some of the … Continue reading STAP stem cell researcher Obokata loses another paper
The Swedish government is taking a second look at how it handles misconduct investigations. According to a spokesperson: Yes, we have an national investigation ongoing since last autumn. It will investigate how misconduct is investigated and handled in Sweden… She also sent us a link to a description of the investigation, in Swedish. The outcome … Continue reading Sweden, rocked by scientific scandals, re-thinking how it investigates misconduct
There’s more news to report on the story of surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, who’s been dogged by allegations of misconduct. After the Karolinska Institutet (KI) announced it would not extend his contract and that he needed to “phase out” his research by November, it has now announced it may dismiss him. In addition, Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, KI’s Dean of … Continue reading Macchiarini may be dismissed from Karolinska; dean of research resigns
Embattled trachea surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, who has spent more than a year fighting misconduct allegations, is defending the ethical oversight behind one of his seminal papers published in The Lancet. The 2011 paper “Tracheobronchial transplantation with a stem-cell-seeded bioartificial nanocomposite: a proof-of-concept study” described a first-of-its-kind procedure: A 36-year-old man with recurrent tracheal cancer received an artificial … Continue reading Macchiarini defends ethics of 2011 Lancet paper
Anders Hamsten announced he would be resigning as vice-chancellor from Karolinska Institutet (KI) in the early hours of Saturday, February 13. In a press release we received at 12:16 a.m. local time in Stockholm, Hamsten issued the following statement: Following the criticism on the so called Macchiarini affair at KI I conclude it will be hard … Continue reading Karolinska vice-chancellor resigns following criticism of Macchiarini investigation
The media has been abuzz in the last few weeks with developments in the ongoing story about “super surgeon” Paolo Macchiarini. We’ve been covering the allegations against him for years (and invited him to publish a guest post on our site). Below, we present a timeline of recent events, to keep you abreast of what we know … Continue reading Reading about embattled trachea surgeon Paolo Macchiarini? Here’s what you need to know
The Karolinska Institutet University Board announced today it was issuing a new external investigation of trachea surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, looking into questions about his recruitment and the handling of previous allegations of misconduct. According to a press release: The University Board deems such an inquiry to be an important part of restoring the confidence of the … Continue reading Karolinska orders new investigation of trachea surgeon Macchiarini