Dipak Kumar Das (1947 – September 19, 2013) was the director of the Cardiovascular Research Center at the

University of Connecticut Health Center UConn Health is a healthcare system and hospital, and branch of the University of Connecticut that oversees clinical care, advanced biomedical research, and academic education in medicine. The system is funded directly by the State of Connecticut ...

in Farmington and is known for research fraud. His work centered on the beneficial properties of

resveratrol Resveratrol (3,5,4′-trihydroxy-''trans''-stilbene) is a stilbenoid, a type of natural phenol or polyphenol and a phytoalexin produced by several plants in response to injury or when the plant is under attack by pathogens, such as bacterium, ba ...

, which is found in

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties - (red grapes.) The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice fro ...

, but over twenty of his research papers have been since retracted. On January 11, 2012, the University of Connecticut Health Center announced that a review board has found Das guilty of 145 counts of fabrication or falsification of data; the three-year investigation examined more than seven years of activity in Das's lab, and centered on

Western blot The western blot (sometimes called the protein immunoblot), or western blotting, is a widely used analytical technique in molecular biology and immunogenetics to detect specific proteins in a sample of tissue homogenate or extract. Besides detect ...

results that had been manipulated and used in published papers. In May 2012, Das was fired from both positions at the

Biography

Das graduated from

Jadavpur University Jadavpur University ( abbr. JU) is a public state funded research university with its main campus located at Jadavpur, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. It was established on 25 July in 1906 as ''Bengal Technical Institute'' and was converted into ...

and received his Ph.D. from

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He joined the University of Connecticut in 1984 and received

tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

in 1993. Das was a prolific publisher of research. His name appears on over 500 articles, including 117 articles on resveratrol. Das was an editor-in-chief of the journal ''Antioxidants and Redox Signaling''. He also served as associate editor of the ''American Journal of Physiology. Heart and Circulatory Physiology'' and consulting editor of '' Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry''. His work on alcohol, HDL, and the heart was mentioned in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. He also gained attention in 2009 after publishing a study on the heart benefits of crushed

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

Data falsification investigation

Data fabrication by Das was alleged by a university investigation committee to have begun in 2005, when "there was no one in the lab with the expertise to prepare Western blots." Regarding Das' falsification of figures in his published works, in explicitly identifying 145 such cases the investigation committee reported that "many figures had more manipulations but, for expediency, the review board only noted the most obvious." The investigation report further stated that "given the large number of irregularities discovered, which were done over several years and in several different ways, the review board can only conclude that they were the result of intentional acts of data falsification and fabrication, designed to deceive." The university notified 11 scientific journals that published papers authored by Das, and the U.S. Office of Research Integrity launched an independent investigation of his work. In January 2012, University of Connecticut officials reported that dismissal proceedings were underway against Das. The Health Center terminated all research in Das's laboratory and declined federal research grants awarded to him. Following Das' dismissal, the ''Hartford Courant'' in 2013 reported that Das intended to file a $35 million defamation lawsuit against UConn. As of 2024, Das has had 24 of his research publications retracted.

References

External links

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Dipak Das response letter to Univ of Connecticut officials
{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Dipak K. 1947 births 2013 deaths Ethics of science and technology Hoaxes in science Hoaxes in the United States Medical controversies in the United States People involved in scientific misconduct incidents

Biography

Data falsification investigation

See also

References

External links