Journals Retract 13 Papers from Heart Stem Cell Lab

It’s the latest fallout from an investigation by Harvard and Brigham and Women’s into work overseen by Piero Anversa.

Written byKerry Grens
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The cardiac stem cell field has had a rough run in recent months. Not only have scientists piled up evidence that cardiac stem cells don’t exist, but one of the leading proponents of the cells has just had a dozen papers retracted.

On Wednesday, Circulation pulled three papers from the lab of Piero Anversa, formerly at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, while Circulation Research retracted 10. Retraction Watch notes that Anversa was not a coauthor on one of the papers, but it came from his lab.

The retractions come after Harvard and Brigham and Women’s concluded an internal investigation and recommended in October that 31 of Anversa’s publications be rescinded because of fraudulent data. A clinical trial based on discoveries that came from Anversa’s lab was also put on hold.

Among the retracted studies are two 2010 Circulation Research papers (each cited more ...

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  • kerry grens

    Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.

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