A researcher responsible for studies showing the cardiovascular health benefits of red wine has been found to have fabricated or falsified data in nearly 150 instances.
A three-year internal investigation into Dr Dipak Das, a director of the University of Connecticut’s Cardiovascular Research Centre, found 145 instances of research fraud in more than twenty papers dating back to 2002.
Dozens of images showing ‘blots’ obtained through gel electrophoresis were found to have been digitally altered using image software. Investigators identified examples of background erasure, image duplication and splicing, and the insertion of “artificial blots”.
The university’s
report found “a pervasive attitude of disregard … for commonly accepted scientific practices in the publication and reporting of research data”.
“[We] can only conclude that [errors] were the result of intentional acts of data falsification and fabrication, designed to deceive,” the report said.
Das had gained attention in recent years for his studies into resveratrol, a substance found in red wine.
In a
press release, the university said letters of notification have been sent by the University to 11 journals that have published Das’s papers.
“We have a responsibility to correct the scientific record and inform peer researchers across the country,” said Philip Austin, interim vice president for health affairs.
The university has frozen all externally funded research in Das’s laboratory and blocked $890,000 in federal grants awarded to him, while the US Office of Research Integrity has launched an independent investigation.
The university says dismissal proceedings are under way.
US experts reacting to the alleged falsification of data have argued the body of evidence won’t be affected by the revelations, with the existence of a large number of studies supporting the role of moderate red wine-consumption on cardiac health.