CUNY Halts Investigation of Alzheimer’s Researcher

The City University of New York is pausing its investigation into a school member, an Alzheimer’s researcher accused of misconduct, the college mentioned in an announcement on Friday.

Studies by the neuroscientist, Hoau-Yan Wang, underpin an Alzheimer’s drug in superior medical trials. The drug, simufilam, is made by Cassava Sciences, a pharmaceutical firm primarily based in Texas. Dr. Wang incessantly collaborated with Lindsay H. Burns, the corporate’s chief scientist.

“Because questions regarding the confidentiality and integrity of this investigation have been raised, CUNY will stay the underlying inquiry into the allegations regarding Dr. Wang’s research until such time as the University completes a comprehensive investigation of the process,” the college mentioned.

Dr. Wang didn’t reply to a request for remark.

“Since September 2021, Cassava Sciences has been waiting for a reliable and credible investigation from CUNY,” Remi Barbier, Cassava’s founder and chief govt, mentioned in an e mail. “We’re still waiting.”

From the beginning, some scientists have been skeptical of simufilam’s purported mode of motion and later of Cassava’s stories of enhancements amongst its medical trial contributors. Following accusations in 2021 that Dr. Wang and Cassava might have manipulated information, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Institutes of Health started investigating the analysis.

A committee convened by CUNY additionally started an investigation into Dr. Wang’s work and his lab’s funds over 20 years.

On Oct. 12, the journal Science made public a draft of the committee’s report, which concluded that Dr. Wang was “reckless” in his failure to maintain or present authentic information, an offense that “amounts to significant research misconduct.” (The investigators additionally concluded that Dr. Burns was accountable for errors in a number of the papers.)

CUNY declined to touch upon the doc on the time however mentioned it might formally launch the report this month. Since then, critics have questioned the objectivity of the investigators and the veracity of their descriptions of Dr. Wang’s responses to the inquiry.

On Friday, the college declined to touch upon these allegations past its official assertion.

“Consistent with its policy, CUNY will not comment on the accuracy of the investigation referenced in the articles because no final action as to this investigation has been taken,” the assertion mentioned.

“CUNY is committed to ensuring that its investigative processes are held to the highest procedural and ethical standards and that the fairness of the proceedings is preserved for all parties,” the college added. “To that end, any finding regarding allegations of research misconduct must be reliable and credible.”