An investigation by the National Institutes of Health has uncovered research misconduct by one of the institute’s top neuroscientists, the institute announced Thursday.
The NIH said in a statement that the findings were from images from two studies co-authored by Dr. Eliezer Masria, who became director of the neuroscience division of the agency’s National Institute on Aging in 2016.
The NIH said images and “figure panels” showing different experimental results had been reused or relabeled in publications, and that it would notify the two scientific journals of its findings so that they could take appropriate action.
Masria has long studied damage to synapses (the connections where brain cells communicate) in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and has published numerous scientific papers during his time at the NIH and previously as a research associate at the University of California, San Diego.
NIH said it began investigating the allegations last year and notified the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Research Integrity of its findings on Sept. 15. Masria is no longer director of the neuroscience division, which oversees a wide range of research projects funded by the institute, according to the statement.
Masria did not respond to an email seeking comment.
The NIH statement came after the journal Science published a news article detailing allegations that more than 100 research papers co-authored by Masria and published between 1997 and 2023 contained questionable images, including some that influenced the early development of potential medicines.
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