UBC responds after prof withdraws paper linking element of vaccines to autism

The University of British Columbia has issued a statement after a scientific paper co-authored by one of its professors was retracted, amid allegations of data manipulation.

The paper, published in a scientific journal last month, linked aluminum components in vaccines to autism in mice.

It is now being withdrawn in light of accusations figures in the paper were deliberately altered .

Co-author Chris Shaw, a professor ofophthamologyat UBC, said he and the lab ran their own analysis offigures in question after seeing the allegations online.

• 'There was a screw-up': UBC researchers withdrawpaper linking vaccine component to autism

He said they concluded: "It appears as if some of the images, in mostly what were non-significant results, had been flipped."

UBC declined comment on Thursdaybut released a statement after CBC News published a story about the retraction on Monday.

Gail Murphy, the university's vice president of research and innovation, said UBC "takes the responsible conduct of research very seriously."

In a statement, she said she can't comment on individual accusationsof scholarly misconductbut that allegations are "thoroughly investigated."

"If misconduct is determined, the university takes steps to address it,"Murphy wrote.

UBCsaid such steps include notifying journals,fundersand the federal watchdogsof the misconduct. Murphy also said that offending faculty memberscan be disciplined and, potentially, fired.

Inan online post, one doctor calledthe paper"anti-vaccine pseudoscience."

Dr. Michael Gardam, who saw the paper and the accusations,saidthere seems to be "pretty clear evidence that data has been falsified." The associate professor of medicine at the University of Toronto called the alleged manipulation "appalling."

Shaw saidthe labcan't confirm how the figures were allegedly altered, becausehe claimsoriginal data needed for comparison isn't at theUBC lab anymorewhich would bea contravention of the university's policy around scientific research.

LucijaTomljenovic, Shaw's co-author,saidshe agreed to the retraction but"had nothing to do with either collecting oranalyzingany of the actual data."

• Read more about the paper and the allegations here.