Bharat Aggarwal

Last updated
Bharat B. Aggarwal
Alma mater University of Delhi
Banares Hindu University
University of California, Berkeley
Scientific career
Fields Biochemistry
Institutions MD Anderson Cancer Center
Genentech

Bharat B. Aggarwal is an Indian-American biochemist. His research has been in the areas of cytokines, the role of inflammation in cancer, and the anti-cancer effects of spices and herbs, particularly curcumin (a chemical constituent of the spice turmeric). He was a professor in the Department of Clinical Immunology, Bioimmunotherapy, and Experimental Therapeutics at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. [1]

Contents

In 2012, MD Anderson launched a review of Aggarwal's research after the federal government notified them of allegations of fraud by academic whistleblowers in as many as 65 of Aggarwal's published papers, with the allegations involving images that had been reused and manipulated to represent different results. [2] [3] [4] He retired at the end of 2015; his departure was not made public until February 2016. [1] [5]

As of 2023, 30 papers published by Aggarwal have been retracted, ten others have received an expression of concern, and 17 others have been corrected. [6] [7]

Career

Aggarwal holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Delhi (1970), a Master of Science degree from Banaras Hindu University (1972) and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of California, Berkeley (1977), all in biochemistry. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco and was employed as a scientist at Genentech from 1980 to 1989, where his team characterized the cytokines TNF-alpha and TNF-beta. Aggarwal was Chief of the Cytokine Research Section, Department of Clinical Immunology, Bioimmunotherapy, Experimental Therapeutics at MD Anderson Cancer Center of the University of Texas in Houston from 1989 to 2015. [8] [9]

Aggarwal's research has focused on potential anti-cancer properties of herbs and spices, particularly curcumin, which is found in the spice turmeric. [8] [10] In 2004 Aggarwal co-founded the company Curry Pharmaceuticals, based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., which was seeking to develop drugs based on synthetic analogs of curcumin. [8] [11] SignPath Pharma, a company seeking to develop liposomal formulations of curcumin, in 2013 licensed three patents from Aggarwal related to that approach. [12]

Scientific misconduct

In 2012, MD Anderson initiated a review of Aggarwal's research after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Research Integrity notified the institution that academic whistleblowers had found evidence of image manipulation in 65 published papers by Aggarwal. [2] [13]

In 2013, Aggarwal's lawyer proposed legal action against the blog Retraction Watch after they reported several of Aggarwal's article corrections and retractions; [14] no such lawsuit was ever realized. In February 2016, the journal Biochemical Pharmacology retracted seven of Aggarwal's research articles, six of which had Aggarwal as senior or first author, [4] because "the data integrity has become questionable." [3] Also in February 2016, MD Anderson Cancer Center confirmed that Aggarwal had retired from the Center on December 31, 2015. [5] [1]

In June 2016, following an investigation by MD Anderson Cancer Center, the journal Molecular Pharmacology retracted two of Aggarwal's papers, citing “inappropriate” or “unacceptable” image manipulation. [15] By April 2018, 19 of Aggarwal's articles, published in seven research journals, had been retracted. [16] [3] [17] [1] In September 2018, an additional nine articles by Aggarwal were retracted in journals published by the American Association for Cancer Research. [18]

In February 2018, a cancer conference in Chennai, India, co-organized by Aggarwal was promoted with the false claim that it was co-sponsored by the MD Anderson Cancer Center. [19] [20] [21]

Books

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curcumin</span> Principal curcuminoid of turmeric

Curcumin is a bright yellow chemical produced by plants of the Curcuma longa species. It is the principal curcuminoid of turmeric, a member of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae. It is sold as a herbal supplement, cosmetics ingredient, food flavoring, and food coloring.

In academic publishing, a retraction is a mechanism by which a published paper in an academic journal is flagged for being seriously flawed to the extent that their results and conclusions can no longer be relied upon. Retracted articles are not removed from the published literature but marked as retracted. In some cases it may be necessary to remove an article from publication, such as when the article is clearly defamatory, violates personal privacy, is the subject of a court order, or might pose a serious health risk to the general public.

Andrew Jess Dannenberg is a U.S. physician and former researcher specializing in molecular mechanisms of cancer, formerly associated with Weill Medical College/M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Wansink</span> American consumer behavior researcher

Brian Wansink is an American former professor and researcher who worked in consumer behavior and marketing research. He was the executive director of the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) from 2007 to 2009 and held the John S. Dyson Endowed Chair in the Applied Economics and Management Department at Cornell University, where he directed the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.

Carlo Maria Croce is an Italian-American professor of medicine at Ohio State University, specializing in oncology and the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer. Croce and his research have attracted public attention because of multiple allegations of scientific misconduct.

Joachim Boldt is a German anesthesiologist who fabricated or falsified data, including those reporting clinical trial results.

Scientific Reports is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific mega journal published by Nature Portfolio, covering all areas of the natural sciences. The journal was established in 2011. The journal states that their aim is to assess solely the scientific validity of a submitted paper, rather than its perceived importance, significance, or impact.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harald Walach</span> German parapsychologist

Harald Walach is a German parapsychologist and advocate of alternative medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Retraction Watch</span> Blog covering scientific paper retractions

Retraction Watch is a blog that reports on retractions of scientific papers and on related topics. The blog was launched in August 2010 and is produced by science writers Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus. Its parent organization is the Center for Scientific Integrity, a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Anil Potti is a physician and former Duke University associate professor and cancer researcher, focusing on oncogenomics. He, along with Joseph Nevins, are at the center of a research fabrication scandal at Duke University. On 9 November 2015, the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) found that Potti had engaged in research misconduct. According to Potti's voluntary settlement agreement with ORI, Potti can continue to perform research with the requirement of supervision until year 2020, while he "neither admits nor denies ORI's findings of research misconduct." As of 2020 Potti, who is employed at the Cancer Center of North Dakota, has had 11 of his research publications retracted, one publication has received an expression of concern, and two others have been corrected.

Dipak Kumar Das was the director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington and is known for research fraud. His work centered on the beneficial properties of resveratrol, which is found in red wine, but over twenty of his research papers have been since retracted.

Silvia Bulfone-Paus is an Italian immunologist. She is the chair of the Research Center Borstel's Department of Immunology and Cell Biology and also serves as professor of Immunobiology at the University of Manchester School of Medicine.

Clare Francis is a pseudonym used since 2010 by the author of hundreds of whistle-blowing emails sent to the editors of scientific journals that call attention to suspected cases of plagiarism and fabricated or duplicated figures. Described as a scientific gadfly, the pseudonymous Francis is "a source both legendary and loathed in biomedical circles" for their "uncanny knack for seeing improperly altered images, as well as smaller flaws that some editors are inclined to ignore." Francis refers to themself as an "attentive reader"; their "real identity, gender, and occupation remain secret."

Annarosa Leri is a medical doctor and former associate professor at Harvard University. Along with former professor Piero Anversa, Leri was engaged in biomedical research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. Since at least 2003 Anversa and Leri had investigated the ability of the heart to regenerate damaged cells using cardiac stem cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregg L. Semenza</span> American physician (born 1956)

Gregg Leonard Semenza is a pediatrician and Professor of Genetic Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He serves as the director of the vascular program at the Institute for Cell Engineering. He is a 2016 recipient of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. He is known for his discovery of HIF-1, which allows cancer cells to adapt to oxygen-poor environments. He shared the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability" with William Kaelin Jr. and Peter J. Ratcliffe. Semenza has had ten research papers retracted due to falsified data.

Sunil Kumar Manna is an Indian immunologist and the head of the immunology lab of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics. He is known for his studies on cell signaling and apoptosis. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences, in 2009.

Ching-Shih Chen is the former Lucius A. Wing Chair of Cancer Research and professor of medicinal chemistry at Ohio State University (OSU). In 2018, Chen resigned his positions at OSU, and the university released a report on an investigation into Chen's scientific misconduct. As of 2020, Chen has had ten of his research publications retracted, two papers have received an expression of concern, and five others have been corrected.

Jonathan Neal Pruitt is a former academic researcher. He was an Associate Professor of behavioral ecology and Canada 150 Research Chair in Biological Dystopias at McMaster University. Pruitt's research focused primarily on animal personalities and the social behavior of spiders and other organisms.

Ivan Oransky is an American physician, medical researcher and journalist, known for his advocacy of scientific integrity through improved tracking and institutional reforms. His opinions and statistics on scientific misconduct have been described in the media.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Ackerman, Todd (March 4, 2016). "M.D. Anderson scientist, accused of manipulating data, retires". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Ackerman, Todd (February 24, 2012). "M.D. Anderson professor under fraud probe". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Grens, Kerry (February 22, 2016). "Author Nets Seven Retractions". The Scientist . Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Nybo, Kristie (February 24, 2016). "Seven Papers Retracted for Lack of Data Integrity". BioTechniques . Archived from the original on October 12, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  5. 1 2 Oransky, Ivan (2016-02-22). "Journal retracts 7 papers by MD Anderson cancer researcher long under investigation". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
  6. ↑ Marcus, Adam (3 October 2022). "Frankincense extract paper is 30th retracted by former MD Anderson researcher who once threatened to sue Retraction Watch". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  7. ↑ "Retraction Watch Database – Bharat Aggarwal". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  8. 1 2 3 Stix, Gary (February 2007). "Spice Healer". Scientific American. 296 (2): 66–9. Bibcode:2007SciAm.296b..66S. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0207-66. PMID   17367023.
  9. ↑ Gazella, Karolyn A. (December 2009). "Pioneering Biochemist Bharat B. Aggarwal, PhD, of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, on Discovering Novel and Effective Cancer Treatments". Natural Medicine Journal. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  10. ↑ Ackerman, Todd (July 11, 2005). "In cancer fight, a spice brings hope to the table". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
  11. ↑ Singh, Seema (September 7, 2007). "From Exotic Spice to Modern Drug?". Cell . 130 (5): 765–768. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2007.08.024 . PMID   17803897. S2CID   16044143.
  12. ↑ Baum, Stephanie (March 26, 2013). "Biotech startup raises $1M for lung cancer treatment using component of tumeric [sic]". Med City News.
  13. ↑ "Prominent Indian-American researcher under probe". Deccan Herald. February 25, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  14. ↑ Heisel, William (April 19, 2013). "Doctor Goes After Retraction Watch, Unleashes Streisand Effect". USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism – Center for Health Journalism. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  15. ↑ Lewis, Tanya (June 22, 2016). "More Retractions for Cancer Researcher". The Scientist . Retrieved October 10, 2016.
  16. ↑ "Caught Our Notice: Researcher who once threatened to sue Retraction Watch now up to 19 retractions". Retraction Watch. 10 April 2018.
  17. ↑ "Seven retractions for prominent cancer researcher brings total to 18". Retraction Watch . Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Publisher's Note". Cancer Research. AACR Publications. 78 (17): 5178. 2018. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-2438 . Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  19. ↑ Oransky, Ivan (February 5, 2018). "MD Anderson: No, we did not co-sponsor this cancer conference". Retraction Watch . Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  20. ↑ Unni, Anagha (February 4, 2018). "After 'cancer is karma' remark, Baba Ramdev to inaugurate research conference at IIT Madras". Indian Express . Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  21. ↑ Chu, Will (April 13, 2018). "Curcumin trial retraction latest in long line for retired researcher". NutraIngredients. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.