Stefanie Dimmeler, a 37-year-old biologist at the University of Frankfurt, has been cleared of scientific wrongdoing by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and can now belatedly receive one of Germany's most prestigious scientific research prizes.

After being named last December as one of 10 winners of the DFG's Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize for her work in atherosclerosis, Dimmeler was accused anonymously of publishing false data. While investigating the allegations, the DFG decided that Dimmeler should not attend the Leibniz award ceremony in March, and not receive her cash award of €1.55 million (USD $2.05 million). She did however remain an official winner.

The DFG announced on Tuesday in a written statement that investigations by the University of Frankfurt and a DFG committee of scientists had found no evidence of scientific misconduct by Dimmeler.

"I'm very, very happy that this nightmare is now over," Dimmeler told The Scientist,...

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