Dr. Marc Tessier-Lavigne, president of Stanford University, announced last week that he will be stepping down after an investigation found that multiple papers he authored contained misleading information.
A special committee created by Stanford’s board of trustees reviewed the initial claims of manipulated studies and outsourced further review to the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, per The New York Times.
The firm evaluated 12 papers that Tessier-Lavigne helped author. He was the principal author of five and a co-author of the other seven.
In 32 years, he was the principal author of 74 papers and a co-author of more than 150 others, according to a statement Tessier-Lavigne sent to the Stanford community.
Much of his work was on diseases that cause brain degeneration, such as Alzheimer’s.
Although “serious flaws” were found in each of the papers, Kirkland & Ellis informed the special committee that Tessier-Lavigne “did not personally engage in research misconduct for any of the twelve papers about which allegations have been raised.”
The firm’s report claimed that Tessier-Lavigne “did not have actual knowledge of the manipulation of research data that occurred in his lab and was not reckless in failing to identify such manipulation prior to publication.”
At least four of the papers contained “apparent manipulation of research data by others.”
Stanford University’s student newspaper, The Stanford Daily, reported in November that Tessier-Lavigne was made aware of multiple errors in his published works back in 2015.
Elisabeth Bik, a biologist and scientific integrity consultant, said there were concerns about the trustworthiness of the papers.
“There appear to be a lot of visible errors in these papers, and some duplications are suggestive [of] an intention to mislead,” Bik said in an email to The Stanford Daily.
Kirkland & Ellis’ report made note of the errors.
“The Scientific Panel has concluded that at various times when concerns with Dr. Tessier-Lavigne’s papers emerged — in 2001, the early 2010s, 2015-16, and March 2021 — Dr. Tessier-Lavigne failed to decisively and forthrightly correct mistakes in the scientific record,” reads the report.
Moving forward, Tessier-Lavigne said he plans to address the five papers he was the principal author of.
“I agree that in some instances I should have been more diligent when seeking corrections, and I regret that I was not,” said Tessier-Lavigne in his statement. “Although I was unaware of these issues, I want to be clear that I take responsibility for the work of my lab members.”
Tessier-Lavigne will officially step down as president on August 31 but will remain a faculty member.
He said he looks forward to “continuing to conduct … scientific research on brain development and neurodegeneration under the auspices of one of the world’s preeminent educational institutions.”
