David Latchman has ‘no case to answer’ after research misconduct investigation

But master of Birkbeck has accepted that there were ‘procedural matters’ in his lab that ‘required attention’

August 26, 2015

University College London has ruled that David Latchman, master of Birkbeck, University of London, has “no case to answer” after an investigation into possible research misconduct.

But UCL also said that the professor of human genetics “has accepted that there were procedural matters in his lab that required attention”.

In January, it emerged that UCL was investigating a number of journal papers, including those authored by Professor Latchman’s research groups.

This followed the retraction of a paper from 2002 by the Journal of Biological Chemistry over the reuse of an image from a 2001 paper.

In total, about 25 papers that have Professor Latchman as an author had questions raised about them on the PubPeer post-publication peer review website.

A statement from UCL released today says: “UCL has considered allegations of potential research misconduct concerning UCL staff under our Procedure for Investigating and Resolving Allegations of Misconduct in Academic Research and related procedures.

“UCL confirms that the conclusion of its investigation is that Professor Latchman has no case to answer in relation to research misconduct. Professor Latchman has accepted that there were procedural matters in his lab that required attention,” it continues.

A spokesman for the university, where Professor Latchman still maintains a lab, declined to give any further details of the “procedural matters” or say how many papers UCL had investigated. 

david.matthews@tesglobal.com

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Reader's comments (4)

The current list of papers under scrutiny at Pubpeer is more than 25. https://pubpeer.com/search?q=latchman&sessionid=E78261107D6911EEBD9C&commit=Search+Publications Don't forget to press the "load more publications" button at the bottom of the first page of the list.
It is important to look at the images for each paper (a picture is worth a thousand words).
Oncogene. 2008 Jan 3;27(1):145-54. Epub 2007 Jul 16. Proliferation-associated Brn-3b transcription factor can activate cyclin D1 expression in neuroblastoma and breast cancer cells. Budhram-Mahadeo VS1, Irshad S, Bowen S, Lee SA, Samady L, Tonini GP, Latchman DS. Author information 1Medical Molecular Biology Unit, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK. Pubpeer entry: https://pubpeer.com/publications/016F22871988C23F342A0E9EAC71E6#fb36891 Figure 2b Oncogene 27:145 and figure 1 J Biol Chem 279:21617. http://imgur.com/pqlXd3K
J Biol Chem. 2010 May 14;285(20):15286-95. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M109.071456. Epub 2010 Mar 12. A simple technique for the prediction of interacting proteins reveals a direct Brn-3a-androgen receptor interaction. Berwick DC1, Diss JK, Budhram-Mahadeo VS, Latchman DS. Author information 1Medical Molecular Biology Unit, University College London Institute of Child Health, London, UK. Pubpeer entry: https://pubpeer.com/publications/20228055 Figure 5B. http://i.imgur.com/S4UyTzM.jpg Figure 3A. http://i.imgur.com/CjMCDkB.png

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