STAT+: Former Stanford president releases emails to rebut fraud and cover-up allegations in new book

Three years after a closely watched research misconduct investigation of Stanford’s then-president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, led to his resignation, the prominent neuroscientist revealed new details this week from his research and travel in an attempt to refute allegations that he published fraudulent results and orchestrated a cover-up. These allegations found new life this year with the release of “How to Rule the World,” a book by former Stanford Daily reporter Theo Baker, who presents Tessier-Lavigne as a case study in Silicon Valley’s culture of corner-cutting. A key part of that story revolves around a major paper on neurodegeneration that Tessier-Lavigne co-authored in 2009, while he was a top scientist at the South San Francisco biotech Genentech. The former university head on Wednesday posted a more than 3,000-word response to the book on his Stanford lab website, alongside emails with former colleagues meant to bolster his defense of the study, published in the journal Nature. STAT+ Exclusive Story Already have an account? Log in This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers Unlock this article — plus in-depth analysis, newsletters, premium events, and news alerts. Already have an account? Log in View All Plans To read the rest of this story subscribe to STAT+. Subscribe