Susana Gonzalez

A once-rising star in stem cell biology who recently lost both her job and a sizable grant has had a fourth paper retracted.

The notice issued by Nature for a 2006 letter cites duplicated images, and a lack of raw data to verify the findings. First author Susana Gonzalez who wasdismissed from her position at the National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC)in Spain last February over allegations of misconduct couldnt be reached by the journal.

Heres the full text of the retraction notice:

In this Letter, some PCR input panels contain duplicated bands (Figs 1b and 2a; and Supplementary Figs 4 and 6a). In Fig. 2e, theARFpromoter panel is a duplicate of the RD panel in Supplementary Fig. 8c. The raw data were not available to verify the data. Given these issues, the authors wish to retract the Letter. The authors deeply regret these errors and apologize to the community. Peter Klatt, Sonia Delgado, Esther Conde, Fernando Lopez-Rios, Montserrat Sanchez-Cespedes, Juan Mendez, Francisco Antequera and Manuel Serrano agree with the Retraction of the Letter. Susana Gonzalez could not be reached.

Oncogenic activity of Cdc6 through repression of the INK4/ARF locus has been cited 133 times, according to Clarivate Analytics Web of Science. The letter has been discussed on PubPeer.

Following misconduct allegations, Gonzalez was fired from the CNIC (a decision which she appealed), one of her grants (totaling nearly 2 million Euros)was suspended. Earlier this year, she received two retractions inNature Communications, which also citedfigure duplications and missing raw data. Cell Cycle has also retracted a 2012 paper she co-authored.

Jose F. de Celis, head of theCentre for Molecular Biology Severo Ochoa (CBMSO), where Gonzalez was working in March (but on sick leave), told us:

Susana is not longer at CBMSO, she requested a transfer and we though it was the best option.

Hat tip:Khalid El Bairi

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Nature retracts paper by stem cell scientist appealing her dismissal - Retraction Watch (blog)