A bombshell report from Science and a subsequent NIH investigation have revealed extensive evidence of research misconduct by Dr. Eliezer Masliah, former head of the neuroscience division at the National Institute on Aging. The investigation uncovered image manipulation across a staggering 132 publications, casting a long shadow over decades of neurodegenerative disease research and potentially impacting current clinical trials.
On this episode of “The Top Line,” Fierce Biotech’s Darren Incorvaia sits down with Dr. Matthew Schrag, a key whistleblower in the investigation. Dr. Schrag, a neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, details the meticulous analysis that uncovered a pattern of data falsification in Dr. Masliah’s work, dating back to the late 1990s. The scope of the misconduct is vast, impacting numerous collaborations, both academic and commercial, and spanning high-profile therapeutic targets like alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease.
The fallout from this scandal reaches far beyond academic journals. Dr. Schrag calls for the immediate halt of ongoing clinical trials for prasinezumab, a Roche/Prothena Biosciences antibody targeting alpha-synuclein for Parkinson’s disease. He argues that the manipulated preclinical data underpinning the therapy’s development significantly undermine the rationale for continued clinical investigation, especially given the drug’s lackluster performance in earlier trials.
Dr. Schrag links the pervasive influence of the amyloid hypothesis in Alzheimer’s disease research to the field’s vulnerability to misconduct. He contends that the overemphasis on a single, dominant theory has created an environment where researchers may feel pressured to produce “expected” results, potentially incentivizing data manipulation. This lack of intellectual diversity, combined with a permissive culture regarding research integrity, has fostered a breeding ground for scientific misconduct.
The Masliah scandal serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need for systemic change in neurodegenerative disease research. Dr. Schrag advocates for a fundamental reset, including stricter consequences for misconduct, greater transparency, and a renewed focus on data integrity. He also calls for increased funding for alternative hypotheses, fostering a more diverse and robust scientific ecosystem. This episode of “The Top Line” provides a critical analysis of the challenges facing neurodegenerative disease research and offers insights into how the field can move beyond this crisis to deliver meaningful therapies for patients.
