Novartis has dismissed a scientist accused of falsifying data involving six research papers originally published between 2000 and 2005 in several medical journals. The scientist, Igor Dzhura, has also been banned from receiving federal funding for three years, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Dzhura, recently employed at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, MA., has agreed to retract or correct the papers, according to a statement by the Office of Research Integrity at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which reviewed his work.

 

The papers were published while he worked as a biomedical researcher at Vanderbilt University.

“We have learned that Igor Dzhura included papers with fraudulent data in his application for employment at Novartis. Falsifying data is not acceptable and we have terminated his employment with the company. We are conducting an internal review to ensure that there was not any scientific misconduct related to his research here,” said a Novartis spokesperson quoted by the Journal.