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Carlo M. Croce

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Carlo M. Croce
Born
Carlo Maria Croce

(1944-12-17) December 17, 1944 (age 79)
Milan, Italy
NationalityItalian, American
Occupationoncologist

Carlo Maria Croce (born December 17, 1944) is an Italian-American professor of medicine at Ohio State University, specializing in oncology and the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer. Croce and his research have attracted public attention because of multiple allegations of scientific misconduct.

Education and career

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Croce graduated in 1969 summa cum laude in medicine from La Sapienza University of Rome. His research career in the United States began the following year at the Wistar Institute of Biology and Anatomy in Philadelphia. In 1980, Croce was named Wistar Professor of Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania and associate director of the Wistar Institute, and from 1988-1991 he was director of the Fels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology at Temple University School of Medicine. In 1991, Croce was named Director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Medical College at the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia.[1] In 1994, Croce joined the Council for Tobacco Research’s scientific advisory board, where he remained until the group closed after the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.[2] During that time, tobacco companies used Croce's research into fragile histidine triad (FHIT) to argue that lung cancer was an inherited condition.[2] While at Jefferson, Croce and his research team discovered in 2002 a role of microRNAs in cancer pathogenesis and progression.[3]

In 2004, Croce moved to Ohio State University (OSU), where he had been an external advisor since 1988, receiving an initial salary of $475,000 and taking with him over 100 staff.[4]

In 2013, Croce resigned from the Ri.MED Foundation's scientific committee due to its director's support for the controversial Stamina therapy.[5]

In 2016, Croce was paid more than $850,000 by Ohio State.[6] In 2019, Croce was removed as chair of the Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics at OSU, and he subsequently sued OSU to be reinstated.[7] His request for a temporary restraining order was denied but he retained his salary of $804,461 per year.[8] Although Croce publicly stated that he was given no reason for his removal as chair, OSU produced a letter that provided such reasons, including that Croce "failed to provide appropriate evaluation and guidance for the faculty", "has been resistant to following normal procedures for developing faculty letters of offer and determining salary parameters", "has also not met some of the basic chair responsibilities regarding governance of the Department", and "is deficient in his ability to manage university and department finances".[9][8] Regarding the latter, OSU has reported that Croce "mismanaged funds and engaged in non-compliance in clinical trials".[8]

Croce has received over $86 million in federal grants as a principal investigator, with $29.1 million received since he joined Ohio State.[2]

Investigations into scientific misconduct

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Croce's research and publications have been scrutinized by the scientific community for possible scientific misconduct, including image and data manipulation. While working at Jefferson, federal investigators alleged Croce and a colleague had submitted false claims for research never undertaken. The university settled the allegations, paying $2.6 million to the government without admitting any wrongdoing.[2] In 2007, OSU investigated Croce for misconduct after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) returned a funding application that contained major portions identical to an application submitted months earlier by Croce's junior colleague. OSU later cleared Croce of misconduct after accusations that he had patented a researcher's work without providing proper credit, that members of his lab had inappropriately used grant money for personal trips abroad, and that Croce improperly pressured colleagues for research attribution.[2] Since 2013, several scientists have claimed research misconduct on the part of Croce, and as of 2020 these allegations remain under investigation by the federal Office of Research Integrity (ORI). Members of the scientific community have pointed out the "tremendous conflict of interest" attached to OSU's investigations of Croce, as Croce's federal research funding includes $8.7 million provided directly to the university in overhead costs.[2]

In 2013, following accusations from science critic Clare Francis of image manipulation in over 30 research papers, OSU instructed Croce to correct or retract some of his research publications; in 2015, the journal Clinical Cancer Research issued a correction after being contacted on the matter by a newspaper.[2] In 2014, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America dismissed a challenge that Croce's 2005 paper on the WWOX gene contained manipulated western blots, but in 2017 the journal agreed to correct the paper after consulting with experts.[2] In 2016, Croce was found to have plagiarized a paper he published in PLoS One from six separate sources.[10] In 2017, the journal Cell Death and Differentiation retracted a paper Croce had published in 2010 after it learned that images had been copied from a 2008 paper published in another journal.[11] Also in 2017, the Journal of Biological Chemistry retracted a paper Croce had published in 2008 due to image/figure irregularities.[12]

In 2018, two cancer researchers at OSU, Samson T. Jacob and Ching-Shih Chen, both colleagues and co-authors with Croce on two papers each, were found to have engaged in scientific misconduct.[13][14][15][16]

In July 2022, Nature reported that the internal OSU inquiry over scientific misconduct in Croce's lab resulted in the identification of a number of cases, including plagiarism and data-falsification, affecting publications by two researchers of the lab. Croce himself was not found guilty of research misconduct, but investigators criticized his management, and OSU told him to retract multiple additional papers.[17] Subsequently four additional articles have been retracted [18][19][20][21]

As of 2024, 15 of Croce's research publications have been retracted, five others have received an expression of concern, and 23 others have been corrected.[22][23][24]

Litigation

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On May 10, 2017, Croce filed a lawsuit against The New York Times and several of its writers and editors for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress based on their reporting of the scientific misconduct allegations.[25][26][27] In November 2018, United States District Judge James Graham dismissed virtually all of Croce's lawsuit.[28] In 2017 Croce also filed a defamation lawsuit against critic David Sanders of Purdue University, who was quoted in The New York Times article.[29] In May 2020 Croce lost the defamation lawsuit against Sanders (within the deposition phase of which Croce stated, "I am considered like the Pope of the genetics of leukemias and lymphomas."), with the presiding judge writing that "[d]iscovery has proved the existence of about 30 instances of fabrication or duplication" in Croce's research papers."[30][31][32] Croce lost his appeals in both the New York Times and Sanders cases, with appellate judges in the latter case writing that Croce's "papers contained problems outside the range of acceptable research."[33][34] In 2019 Croce lost a lawsuit he brought against Ohio State University to be reinstated as chair of the Department of Cancer Genetics and Biology,[35] and in 2021 Croce lost the appeal of that decision.[36]

Croce also sued OSU to be reinstated as department chair. Croce lost that suit on summary judgment.[37]

In June 2020, Croce, who has been described by Sanders as "a serial plaintiff",[38] was sued by the law firm Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter, of Columbus, OH, for $923,445.51 in unpaid fees associated with Croce's defamation lawsuits related to his scientific misconduct.[39] In January 2021, Croce was sued by the law firm James E. Arnold & Associates, of Columbus, OH, for over $690,000 in unpaid legal fees associated with Croce's lawsuits related to his scientific misconduct.[40] In December 2022, Croce was ordered by the Franklin County (OH) Court of Common Pleas to pay Kegler Brown Hill + Ritter over one million dollars for unpaid invoices.[41]

Personal life

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Croce has said Columbus, Ohio, lacks culture, motivating him to spend more of his time traveling than on campus.[2] Croce privately collects Italian Renaissance and Baroque paintings, with a claimed ability to identify and purchase genuine masters for a fraction of their worth.[2] In 2023 Croce's art collection was ordered by the state of Ohio to be sold in order to pay Croce's nearly $1.1 million debt to lawyers who represented him in his failed libel and defamation suits.[42]

Awards

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The 2013 prize of the Artois-Baillet Latour Foundation is given by The Queen of the Belgians to Croce

In 2006 Croce received the Clowes Memorial Award from the American Association for Cancer Research for his discoveries of the molecular mechanisms of leukemia.[43] In 2010, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[44] In 2011, he received the Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics from the Association for Molecular Pathology.[45] In 2017, Croce received the Margaret Foti Award from the AACR for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research.[46]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dickinson, Susan L-J (June 24, 1991). "Prominent Scientist Switches Labs, Sparking Administrative Fireworks". The Scientist. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j James Glanz; Agustin Armendariz (9 March 2017). "Years of Ethics Charges, but Star Cancer Researcher Gets a Pass". The New York Times. p. A1. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  3. ^ "Ohio State's Carlo M. Croce - A Macro View of MicroRNA". Science Watch. 19 (2): 3–4. March 2008. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  4. ^ Leonard, Martha (August 23, 2004). "OSU lures scientist to lead cancer genetics program". Columbus Business First. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  5. ^ Abbott, Alison (January 7, 2014). "Leaked Files Slam Stem-Cell Therapy". Nature Magazine. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  6. ^ "Ohio State cancer researcher Carlo Croce's 7th paper withdrawn; university in review". September 2017.
  7. ^ Marcus, Adam (2019-01-10). "OSU cancer researcher who has faced misconduct allegations sues to regain lost department chairmanship". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 2019-01-11.
  8. ^ a b c Oransky, Author Ivan (4 February 2019). "Carlo Croce loses a round in legal bid to be reinstated as dep't chair". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 1 May 2019. {{cite web}}: |first1= has generic name (help)
  9. ^ Moberger, Alexis (28 November 2018). "OSU department chair forced to step down without a reason". WSYX. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  10. ^ "When does "overlap" become plagiarism? Here's what PLOS ONE decided". 16 September 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  11. ^ "Journal retracts paper due to image mismatch; one co-author alleges fraud". 24 January 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  12. ^ Trapasso, Francesco; Pichiorri, Flavia; Gaspari, Marco; Palumbo, Tiziana; Aqeilan, Rami I.; Gaudio, Eugenio; Okumura, Hiroshi; Iuliano, Rodolfo; Leva, Giampiero Di; Fabbri, Muller; Birk, David E.; Raso, Cinzia; Green-Church, Kari; Spagnoli, Luigi G.; Venuta, Salvatore; Huebner, Kay; Croce, Carlo M. (25 August 2017). "Fhit interaction with ferredoxin reductase triggers generation of reactive oxygen species and apoptosis of cancer cells". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 292 (34): 14279. doi:10.1074/jbc.A117.709062. PMC 5572898. PMID 28842474.
  13. ^ "Croce cm AND jacob st - Search Results - PubMed". PubMed. 2018-12-24.
  14. ^ "Croce cm AND chen cs - Search Results - PubMed". PubMed. 2018-12-24.
  15. ^ "Cancer biologist retracts five papers". Retraction Watch. 14 March 2018.
  16. ^ "OSU Professor Falsified Data on Eight Papers, Resigns". The Scientist.
  17. ^ Van Noorden, Richard (2022-07-20). "Exclusive: investigators found plagiarism and data falsification in work from prominent cancer lab". Nature. 607 (7920): 650–652. Bibcode:2022Natur.607..650V. doi:10.1038/d41586-022-02002-5. PMID 35859130. S2CID 250731884.
  18. ^ Garofalo, Michela; Romano, Giulia; Di Leva, Gianpiero; Nuovo, Gerard; Jeon, Young-Jun; Ngankeu, Apollinaire; Sun, Jin; Lovat, Francesca; Alder, Hansjuerg; Condorelli, Gerolama; Engelman, Jeffrey A.; Ono, Mayumi; Rho, Jin Kyung; Cascione, Luciano; Volinia, Stefano; Nephew, Kenneth P.; Croce, Carlo M. (2022). "Retraction Note: EGFR and MET receptor tyrosine kinase–altered microRNA expression induces tumorigenesis and gefitinib resistance in lung cancers". Nature Medicine. 28 (11): 2436. doi:10.1038/s41591-022-02044-2. PMC 9675728. PMID 36195688.
  19. ^ Pichiorri, F.; Suh, S. S.; Rocci, A.; De Luca, L.; Taccioli, C.; Santhanam, R.; Zhou, W.; Benson, D. M.; Hofmainster, C.; Alder, H.; Garofalo, M.; Di Leva, G.; Volinia, S.; Lin, H. J.; Perrotti, D.; Kuehl, M.; Aqeilan, R. I.; Palumbo, A.; Croce, C. M. (2022). "Retraction Notice to: Downregulation of p53-inducible microRNAs 192, 194, and 215 Impairs the p53/MDM2 Autoregulatory Loop in Multiple Myeloma Development". Cancer Cell. 40 (11): 1441. doi:10.1016/j.ccell.2022.10.006. PMC 9743993. PMID 36306793.
  20. ^ PLOS ONE Editors (2022). "Retraction: Akt Regulates Drug-Induced Cell Death through BCL-w Downregulation". PLOS ONE. 17 (4): e0267621. Bibcode:2022PLoSO..1767621.. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0267621. PMC 9020728. PMID 35442994. {{cite journal}}: |author1= has generic name (help)
  21. ^ Garofalo, M.; Di Leva, G.; Romano, G.; Nuovo, G.; Suh, S. S.; Ngankeu, A.; Taccioli, C.; Pichiorri, F.; Alder, H.; Secchiero, P.; Gasparini, P.; Gonelli, A.; Costinean, S.; Acunzo, M.; Condorelli, G.; Croce, C. M. (2022). "Retraction Notice to: MiR-221&222 Regulate TRAIL Resistance and Enhance Tumorigenicity through PTEN and TIMP3 Downregulation". Cancer Cell. 40 (11): 1440. doi:10.1016/j.ccell.2022.10.005. PMC 9724191. PMID 36306794.
  22. ^ "Retraction Watch Database". Retraction Watch. The Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
  23. ^ "Retraction count for Italian researcher swells to 15 as five papers fall". 5 March 2018.
  24. ^ "Alfredo Fusco, facing misconduct charges in Italy, up to 21 retractions". Retraction Watch. 2018-12-24. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  25. ^ Court document courthousenews.com May 2017
  26. ^ "Croce v. New York Times Company et al". Justia Dockets & Filings.
  27. ^ "Why The Ohio State University decided to go public about misconduct". Science | AAAS. 5 April 2018.
  28. ^ "Judge dismisses most of Carlo Croce's libel case against The New York Times". 8 November 2018.
  29. ^ "Croce v. Sanders". PacerMonitor LLC. 2017-04-20. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  30. ^ Pazanowski, Mary Anne (2020-05-13). "'Star' Ohio State Cancer Researcher Loses Defamation Action". Bloomberg Law. Bloomberg Industry Group. Retrieved 2021-07-02.
  31. ^ Raudins, Sam; Szilagy, Sarah (2020-05-14). "Ohio State Cancer Researcher Accused of Falsifying Data Loses Defanation Suit". The Lantern. The Lantern Media Group. Retrieved 2021-11-05.
  32. ^ https://retractionwatch.com/2020/05/13/cancer-researcher-loses-defamation-suit-against-critic/#more-119450 The 12th May 2020 Opinion and Order. https://retractionwatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/judgment-opinion-and-order.pdf
  33. ^ "United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit" (PDF). Retraction Watch. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  34. ^ Oransky, Ivan (4 February 2021). "Litigious OSU professor loses appeal in federal defamation case". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  35. ^ Oransky, Ivan (18 December 2019). "Embattled cancer researcher loses legal bid to be reinstated as department chair at OSU". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
  36. ^ "Croce-v-OSU-decision" (PDF). Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
  37. ^ "Embattled cancer researcher loses legal bid to be reinstated as department chair at OSU". Retraction Watch. 2019-12-18. Archived from the original on 2021-11-05. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  38. ^ Oransky, Ivan (July 2021). "A scientist critic was sued, and won — but did not emerge unscathed. This is his story". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
  39. ^ Oransky, Ivan (2020-06-26). "Law firm sues OSU cancer researcher for $900,000 in unpaid fees following failed libel suit". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2020-06-26.
  40. ^ "Franklin County Ohio Clerk of Courts of the Common Please" (PDF). Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2021-01-24.
  41. ^ Kincaid, Ellie (9 January 2023). "Judge orders OSU cancer researcher to pay $1 million to lawyers from failed libel suit". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2023-01-10.
  42. ^ Kincaid, Ellie (2023-06-12). "Judge orders cancer researcher's art collection seized to pay fees from failed libel suit". Retraction Watch. Center for Scientific Integrity. Retrieved 2024-09-01.
  43. ^ "AACR-G.H.A. Clowes Memorial Award" (PDF). American Association for Cancer Research. April 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2011.[permanent dead link‍]
  44. ^ "Academy Home - American Academy of Arts & Sciences". www.amacad.org. Archived from the original on 2013-10-11.
  45. ^ "Past Recipients". Association for Molecular Pathology. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  46. ^ "Dr. Carlo Croce Recognized With 2017 AACR Margaret Foti Award for Leadership and Extraordinary Achievements in Cancer Research". AACR. Retrieved April 2, 2017.
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