From time to time, these GEITP pages select a flagrant case of fraud in scientific research — something that seems to have been rarely seen (in our opinion) — before about 1990. This sad story comes from inside the prestigious Intramural Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The U.S. Congress in 2016 approved a large amount of funds for Alzheimer disease research. In response, the National Institute on Aging (NIA) appointed veteran brain researcher Eliezer Masliah to be NIA’s key leader for the effort. Dr. Masliah accepted the offer to lead NIA’s Division of Neuroscience — whose budget ($2.6 billion in the last fiscal year) dwarfs that of all the rest of NIA combined. As a leading federal ambassador to the research community and chief adviser to NIA Director Richard Hodes, Masliah was expected to gain tremendous influence over the study and treatment of neurological conditions in the U.S. and beyond. Masliah saw this promotion as the pinnacle of his rising career; he told the online discussion group “Alzforum” that “the golden era of Alzheimer research” had arrived, and he was eager to help NIA direct these newly-gained research funds. “I am fully committed to this effort. It is an historical moment.”
Masliah appeared to be an ideal selection. The physician and neuropathologist had conducted research at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) for decades; and his drive, curiosity, and productivity had driven him into the top ranks of scholars on Alzheimer and Parkinson disease. His roughly 800 research papers, many on how those maladies damage synapses (the junctions between neurons) have made him one of the most-cited scientists in his field. His extensive work on topics including alpha-synuclein — a protein linked to both diseases — has continued to influence basic and clinical science.
Over the past 2 years, however, questions have arisen about some of Masliah’s research. An investigation by Science magazine has now found that “scores of his lab studies at UCSD, and more recently at NIA are riddled with apparently falsified Western blots (images used to show the presence of specific normal vs abnormal proteins) and micrographs of brain tissue. Numerous images seem to have been inappropriately reused within and across papers, sometimes published years apart in different journals, describing divergent experimental conditions.
After Science brought initial concerns about Masliah’s work to their attention, forensic analysts specializing in scientific work who had previously worked with Science, produced a 300-page dossier revealing a steady stream of suspect images between 1997 and 2023 in 132 of his published research papers: “In our opinion, this pattern of anomalous data raises a credible concern for research misconduct and calls into question a remarkably large body of scientific work,” they concluded.
Neither Masliah — nor the various drug companies, universities, or federal agencies that were provided the dossier — have so far rejected or challenged any of the numerous examples of possible misconduct despite having been given the material more than 2 weeks ago. On 26 Sept 2024, the NIH released a statement saying that, following an investigation, it had “confirmed findings of research misconduct” against Masliah for “falsification and/or fabrication involving reusing and relabeling of figure panels” in two publications. According to their statement, Masliah no longer serves as NIA’s neuroscience division director, but NIH declined to further clarify his employment status.
The lengthy story is detailed in the attached pdf file, which all GEITP’ers are welcome to read at their leisure. ☹
DwN
Science 27 Sept 2024; 385: 1406-1412