NUS prof investigated for research fraud
An anonymous tip-off has led to a former National University of Singapore (NUS) professor being investigated for creating false research data.
According to The Sunday Times, Dr Alirio Melendez, an immunology researcher, had published two papers in top journals about breakthroughs leading to better treatments of generalised blood infections called sepsis.
But NUS and the other universities involved in the research are retracting these papers.
One of them, an immunology article published in Nature, has been retracted following irregularities identified in some figures in the paper, according to the journal.
In addition, "serious questions have been raised about the validity of findings" in the other paper, published in Science, and it will be retracted soon.
Dr Melendez was the corresponding author in both papers, which means he led the research efforts and acted as guarantor of the work, involving nine universities, departments and organisations from Singapore, Britain, Germany and Switzerland.
In Singapore, the eight researchers involved include scientists, academics, research fellows and students from NUS and DSO National Laboratories.
Publishing research in such top-tier journals can boost a scientist's career, and the number of high-impact publications is a key way in which individuals and organisations are evaluated.
NUS has started an exercise to relook around 70 other papers -- all the work ever done by the scientist and his team.
A high-level panel, including professors experienced in dealing with research fraud, is conducting investigation.
Professor Barry Halliwell, the deputy president of research and technology at NUS, told the same paper, "Our focus is on being extremely thorough and dealing with the situation in the best possible way, being fair and transparent, and working according to international standards."
Melendez, who joined the university a decade ago and left to take up professorships in Britain in 2009, could not be reached for comment. The University of Liverpool, where he is currently working at, said he has been suspended without prejudice, pending the outcome of the inquiry.
