entertainment

After an expansive investigation found manipulated data and other issues with papers co-authored by Stanford’s now ex-president Marc Tessier-Lavigne, the prominent neuroscientist on Thursday retracted two studies published in the journal Science in 2001 — over the objection of a former postdoctoral researcher who played a leading role in both projects.

The retractions come the same day that Tessier-Lavigne’s resignation as Stanford president takes effect. His departure was prompted by a 95-page report released by a special committee of the university’s Board of Trustees, which recruited outside scientists and a former federal judge to investigate a dozen papers Tessier-Lavigne co-authored between 1999 and 2009, years before becoming the university’s leader.

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The panel concluded that he did not personally engage in scientific misconduct, but it uncovered manipulated data in some studies Tessier-Lavigne had supervised and found that he took insufficient steps to “decisively and forthrightly” correct these studies.

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