Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced that he is stepping down from his position amid questions about his research. He will remain president of the university until August 31 and will still be a member of the faculty.
His resignation comes after a panel of scientists reviewed a dozen of his research papers and "identified instances of manipulation of research data by others in my lab."
"Although I was unaware of these issues, I want to be clear that I take responsibility for the work of my lab members," Tessier-Lavigne said in a letter to the Standford community.
Tessier-Lavigne said the panel found no evidence of fraud during its months-long review.
"I am gratified that the Panel concluded I did not engage in any fraud or falsification of scientific data. Specifically, the Panel did not find that I engaged in research misconduct regarding the twelve papers reviewed, nor did it find I had knowledge of or was reckless regarding research misconduct in my lab," he wrote.
Tessier-Lavigne said that of the 12 papers reviewed, he was the principal author of five. He said that he would retract three of the papers and make corrections to the other two.
Tessier-Lavigne said that he would learn from the panel's findings and vowed to do better in the future.
"Going forward, I will be further tightening controls, including, for example, more systematically matching processed images to original raw data, both in the course of each scientific study and especially when bringing a study to publication. I will vigorously apply this and other best practices to ensure that these kinds of problems do not recur."