Career
Wang took a teaching position at the CUNY School of Medicine in the mid-2000s where much of his research focused on the effect of recreational drug on dopaminergic neurons. He was approached by Cassava Sciences (then known as Pain Therapeutics) to consult on the development of an addiction-resistant painkiller that would act on the scaffolding protein, filamin A. Through this work, he began a years-long collaboration with Cassava researcher Lindsay Burns. When the new drug failed to show promise as a pain medication, Cassava began investigating the compound as an Alzheimer's disease treatment. [3] The drug was granted the name simufilam in 2020. [4]
In August 2021, neuroscientists and Cassava short-sellers petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to cease clinical trials of simufilam, citing suspicion of image manipulation in the supporting research. When these concerns were communicated through the Office of Research Integrity, CUNY launched an investigation into Wang's research, concluding in 2023 that 14 out of the 31 allegations of misconduct were credible. [5] On June 28, 2024, a federal grand jury in the District of Maryland indicted Wang for fraud connected to simufilam research. According to the Department of Justice, he had allegedly manipulated data in publications supporting the drug between 2015 and 2023. [2]
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