A third-party investigation by Science has uncovered significant levels of fraud in the Alzheimer research community. The investigation has confirmed research misconduct by Eliezer Masliah, a longstanding employee of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and a leading figure in neurological studies. The allegations involve the falsification of scientific data, specifically the reuse and relabeling of images in his published papers to artificially boost the efficacy of Alzheimer's drugs.
Masliah, who was appointed as the director of the National Institute on Aging's (NIA) Division of Neuroscience in 2016, has been a pivotal player in the field, overseeing a budget of $2.6 billion. Celebrated for his contributions to the understanding of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, Masliah has authored nearly 800 research papers, making him one of the most cited scientists in his discipline. This research has led to the speedy approval of new Alzheimer’s drugs, but now these drugs are being called into question.
Academic investigation detects intentional data manipulation in Masliah’s research over 25 years
The investigation into Masliah’s work has called into question numerous Alzheimer’s studies from his laboratory at the NIA and at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). This work contained manipulated images, including Western blots and brain tissue micrographs. An independent forensic analysis presented a 300-page dossier, revealing a pattern of questionable data across 132 published papers spanning from 1997 to 2023.
The scrutiny of Masliah’s work began in 2023 when forensic image analysts began flagging discrepancies in several of Masliah’s papers on PubPeer, an online platform for discussing research publications and allegations of misconduct. The initial concerns prompted a deeper examination by a team of experts, including Columbia University neurobiologist Matthew Schrag, neurobiologist Mu Yang, and independent forensic analyst Kevin Patrick. Their previous investigation into another researcher led to significant findings, including the suspension of a clinical trial due to data manipulation.
In their analysis of Masliah’s work, Schrag, Yang, and Patrick uncovered numerous instances of duplicated and altered images across multiple studies. Yang noted that certain Western blots appeared to be “seamlessly blended,” suggesting a deliberate effort to misrepresent data. She described her investigative process as akin to that of an art historian, identifying a “signature style” of manipulation that recurred in many of Masliah's papers.
One particular study published in 2015 in BMC Neuroscience illustrated troubling image manipulation that exaggerated the drug's effectiveness. In this research, images of brain tissue from normal and mutant mice suggested that prasinezumab reduced tau damage, but further analysis revealed unnaturally similar images that raised doubts about their authenticity.
As Yang and her team reviewed Masliah’s publications, they identified hundreds of suspect images, leading them to halt their search due to the overwhelming evidence of misconduct. “I suspect similar problems would emerge from a close examination of the hundreds of other Masliah papers,” Yang commented.
The allegations raised serious concerns among neuroscientists. Samuel Gandy, a neurologist at the Mount Sinai Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, expressed his shock, stating, “Hundreds of images. There had to have been ongoing manipulation for years.”
Drug companies and scientists who benefited from fraudulent Alzheimer’s research now called into question
Following the dossier's release, the NIH stated that Masliah's misconduct was confirmed in two publications, leading to his removal from the NIA’s neuroscience division director position. Details regarding his current employment status remain unclear, as NIH officials declined to elaborate on their next course of action.
The implications of these findings extend beyond Masliah’s individual work. This fraud has also exposed the research of the late Edward Rockenstein, a former UC San Diego neuroscientist who co-authored 91 papers that now face scrutiny due to the dossier's findings. Similarly, Robert Rissman, who contributed to 16 papers cited in the dossier, is now at USC, where the institution has announced a confidential review of his involvement with Masliah’s work.
Masliah’s research has influenced the development of experimental drugs, including prasinezumab, which was aimed at treating Parkinson’s by targeting the alpha-synuclein protein linked to the disease. However, recent clinical trials reported no significant benefits, raising further questions about the validity of the underlying research. Masliah played a pivotal role in the drug’s conceptualization alongside the late Dale Schenk, who co-founded the biopharma company Prothena. The drug’s efficacy is now under scrutiny due to Masliah’s questionable research.
Even with Alzheimer’s research fraud uncovered, the FDA has declined to comment on the implications for the drug prasinezumab, which is currently undergoing a new phase 2 trial aimed at assessing its effectiveness in slowing the progression of Parkinson’s-related movement difficulties. The phase 2 trial of prasinezumab is particularly critical, as drug makers Hoffmann-La Roche and Prothena look to announce preliminary results later this year. These companies are ignoring the latest findings of fraud, and are expected to make decisions regarding a possible phase 3 trial by 2025 or 2026.
The ongoing concerns about Masliah’s research not only challenge prasinezumab but also jeopardize the credibility of various other drug development efforts that rely on his earlier fraudulent research methods and data manipulations. One of those drugs, built on the fraud of Masliah’s research, is Cerebrolysin, sold by Ever Pharma. Masliah’s fraudulent research will also impact Neuropore Therapies, which cites Masliah’s work as foundational for its Parkinson’s therapies.
NIH officials and their research collaborators have committed data fraud to benefit drug companies for many years now, and the Alzheimer’s research community is collapsing as a result. Decades have passed, as Alzheimer's patients suffer without any real answers, while the NIH committed data fraud to benefit themselves and their drug company friends.
Sources include:
Science.org [PDF]
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