Kyoto University has fired an investigator for falsifying figures in a 2017 Stem Cell Reports paper, Retraction Watch reports. It adds that Nobel Laureate Shinya Yamanaka, who directs the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) where the research took place, was also reprimanded.
The paper, which was retracted earlier this month because of fabrication and falsification in all six of its figures, had purported to show that cells developed via human induced pluripotent stem cells could be used to model the blood-brain barrier. But Kyoto University began an investigation into the work last September after questions of the paper's validity arose. That inquiry found that first author Kohei Yamamizu from CiRA was solely responsible for the misconduct. Yamamizu has now been "punitively dismissed," according to the university.
In the statement, Yamanaka adds that that he has been penalized by the university for his lack of oversight and has voluntarily donated to the iPS Cell Research Fund. "I feel a strong responsibility for not having prevented research misconduct at our institute," he says.
Retraction Watch notes that it's not clear how Yamanaka has been penalized.