Wafik El-Deiry: It is sad to watch the attacks on science and the targeting of scientists

Wafik El-Deiry made the following post on LinkedIn:

“It is sad to watch the attacks on science and the targeting of scientists. We could be moving into a world without freedom in science, where scientists are suspects at best, where accusers are above others and untouchable, where we spend quite a lot on investigating and preventing fraud including big brother oversight and government regulation. Some big data sets may be unreliable and none of this will really help that. Incentives are not the main reason people go into science (although that wouldn’t hurt) and I think most already have integrity. For the rogue professionals who I believe are very few in number, no amount of ethics training or oversight will help. We can only hope they choose other careers from the start.

How does bad data slip through? Allegations of research fraud raise questions about ‘peer review.’ Boston Globe Business.

I have recently commented about the issues in The Cancer Letter.”

Additional information.

Source: Wafik El-Deiry/LinkedIn

Wafik El-Deiry, MD, PhD, FACP, FRSM, an American Cancer Society Research Professor, is the Associate Dean for Oncologic Sciences at the Warren Alpert Medical School and Director of the Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University. Dr. El-Deiry discovered p21(WAF1) as a p53 target gene, cell cycle inhibitor, and tumor suppressor that explained the mammalian cell stress response. This has been the most highly cited original work published in Cell. He discovered TRAIL receptor DR5 as a p53 target, and ONC201/TIC10 as a TRAIL pathway, integrated stress response inducer, and cancer therapeutic with efficacy in diffuse midline glioma and other tumors.  He was named one of America’s Top Oncologists by the Consumer Res Council of America in 2008 and 2009. He is a practicing physician-scientist specializing in colorectal cancer treatment.