Researcher accused of fabrication

Former UNC professor Steven Anthony Leadon stands accused of submitting falsified results to a study for the second time.

The latest charge resulted in the retraction of research published in a respected scientific journal.

Leadon’s three co-authors — Priscilla Cooper of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Thierry Nouspikel of Stanford University and Stuart Clarkson of University Medical Center in Geneva — also are among his accusers.

Cooper said that after an investigatory committee from UNC contacted her about the retraction of Leadon’s previous papers, she took it upon herself to investigate his contribution to their research.

Cooper said that by looking at the original notebooks from the lab she could immediately see that Leadon’s data was inaccurate.

“There’s no English word to express the depth of shock I felt,” she said.

Science, the academic journal that published the work, retracted the article, which detailed the molecular effects of Cockayne Syndrome.

The article originally was published in February 1997 and again in its June 16 edition.

Cockayne Syndrome is a rare, fatal illness that produces aging-like symptoms in very young children.

Leadon’s contribution to the paper was an essay which claimed Cockayne syndrome was caused by DNA’s failure to repair itself.

Cooper said Leadon’s findings were unique and dissimilar to his counterparts’ work.

“We as a field need to find another way to address the questions he was trying to answer,” she said.

Only two possible molecular explanations for Cockayne Syndrome remain.

“Now we have to go back and do a lot more work to know what the truth is,” Cooper said.

This is Leadon’s second retraction in Science. He agreed to retract his scientific paper in 2003 concerning research on breast cancer.

Jamie Wilson, communications associate with Science, said retractions do not occur very often — especially by the author of an article.

Cooper said she cannot come up with any explanation for why Leadon would fabricate data.

“Everyone who had anything to do with him liked him very much,” Cooper said. “He was very outgoing and interested in science. It’s just unbelievable that he would do that.”

Cooper said this has been the worst experience in her career.

Leadon has not been in contact with anyone concerning his research, Cooper said. He was the only one of the four authors of the research not to sign the retraction.