On the same day as the story’s publication, the university started an investigation to Tessier Lavigne research and seven years of alleged scientific misconduct detailed in a Stanford Daily article.
“It was pretty amazing,” said Sam Catania, editor-in-chief of the Stanford Daily. “I can’t say I expected the board to act quickly.” It just became another news event,” he said. Baker continued the story, revealing the possibilities of image manipulation. additional documents Co-authored by Tessier Lavigne. He also reported on a call to university presidents. get off and the Expanding groups of individuals Who is investigating allegations of scientific misconduct? (You can read the full coverage of the Stanford Daily. here.)
On February 17, three days before the Polk Prize winners were announced, Baker published another paper. huge story Tessier-Lavigne uncovered accusations of failing to publicly investigate falsified data in a 2009 paper for which he was senior author that identified potential causes of brain degeneration in Alzheimer’s patients. .
Baker said his one face-to-face exchange with Tessier Lavigne was brief. He reached out to the university president shortly after sending him an email asking for comment on an article about the alleged cover-up of falsified Alzheimer’s data. “I approached him. I said ‘Hello,’ and he said, ‘Oh, yes. .’
“I started to say something and he closed the car door in the middle of my words,” Baker continued. “And of course he didn’t come back to us. His lawyer did.”
Shortly after the Alzheimer’s story was published, Tessier Lavigne wrote: Stanford faculty and staff It attacks student paper reporting, calling it “full of lies.”
Tessier-Lavigne’s letter confirmed Baker’s conviction that his article would never have been published if the Stanford Daily had not been an organization operating outside the control of an academic institution. (This paper marks his 50th anniversary of being independent from the university this year.) “The person we’re writing about is literally in charge of all of us.”
The Stanford Daily’s reporter and editor-in-chief dodged questions about the impact of their investigation on Tessier Lavigne’s tenure as university president.
“We just want to report the facts and we want to get it right. That’s the most important thing for us,” said Catania. “Whatever happens, at the end of the day, if we are fair, accurate, and thorough. ”
Baker said he just wanted to “find out exactly what happened.” He said, “I try not to think too much about what happens based on all this. What I’ve spent the most time thinking about is doing it right and being as comprehensive as possible.” I’m not responsible for making judgments, other people will come to their conclusions, so my only job here is to keep going and figure out what’s really out there. is to do.”
