Harvard teaching hospital retracts and corrects dozens of papers by top researchers after falsification probe
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's CEO, Dr. Laurie Glimcher, is one of the researchers under investigation
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A teaching hospital affiliated with Harvard University is looking to retract or correct dozens of papers authored by top researchers following an investigation into allegations of data falsification.
The probe into whether data falsification occurred is underway at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston comes after claims were levied against the institute's CEO, Dr. Laurie Glimcher, Chief Operating Officer Dr. William Hahn, Clinical Investigator Research Program Director Dr. Irene Ghobrial and Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center Program Director Dr. Kenneth Anderson.
Dana-Farber's Research Integrity Officer, Dr Barrett Rollins, told the Harvard Crimson that the hospital has already begun six retractions to research papers, and another 31 are currently being corrected.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}All four researchers have full faculty appointments with Harvard Medical School and have "primary responsibility for the potential data errors," according to Rollins.
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The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is investigating whether top researchers, including the hospital's CEO, falsified data on research papers. (Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe/Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The institute is still investigating whether 16 papers that contain data from other Dana-Farber and Harvard researchers contain similar data discrepancies.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The probe began after biologist Sholto David posted to a blog and flagged 57 papers published between 1997 and 2017. Many of the papers researched the biology of cancer development and were republished in several top journals, including "Cell, Nature, Medicine" and "Science."
David, who also works as a freelance data sleuth, identified instances where identical protein blots, bands and graphs were posted more than once in the same paper to identify different experiments.
"For some of these mistakes, it's hard to understand how it could have happened by accident," David said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The information was first reported by The Harvard Crimson, which at the time said Dana-Farber had begun to investigate the allegations in 2023.
"The presence of image discrepancies in a paper is not evidence of an author's intent to deceive," Rollins told ScienceInsider. "That conclusion can only be drawn after a careful, fact-based examination which is an integral part of our response. Our experience is that errors are often unintentional and do not rise to the level of misconduct."
The information was first reported by The Harvard Crimson, which at the time said Dana-Farber had begun to investigate the allegations in 2023. (iStock)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He also revealed the investigation may continue for up to 1 year.
The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.
The new claims come after Harvard President Claudine Gay announced her resignation following widespread allegations of plagiarism against her.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gay was accused last October of plagiarizing several passages in published academic articles stretching back to the 1990s.
Following the initial claims, Harvard also noted that it had been made aware of additional plagiarism allegations, which included charges against Gay's dissertation, through social media on December 10. However, a subcommittee reviewing her work had not included her dissertation in its initial review.
Former Harvard President Claudine Gay was accused of multiple accounts of plagiarism in December. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two days later, on December 12, the subcommittee released a statement in support of Gay and made reference to the corrections she had agreed to make. The board again backed her on December 21 and detailed additional corrections, including ones to her dissertation.
Following her resignation, Gay returned to the Harvard faculty. Issues that arise with faculty are typically reviewed by a university committee, which reports to the university president.
Fox News' Kyle Morris contributed to this report.