I am a Professor of Radiology at the New Jersey Medical School in Newark, NJ. I have a PhD in Biology from Brandeis University. I have always believed in the integrity of science and of scientists. My life has been a quest for truth. In 2001, my faith was undermined when I became, albeit unwillingly, a whistleblower. This changed my life but I have never faltered in my quest even though I have passed my 84th birthday.
My story reflects a lack of due diligence on the part of many scientists and a judiciary that failed to understand the science. It starts with an ambitious post doc who wants to please his boss, a Laboratory Director seeking funding from the government to prove his – as it turns out, erroneous — theory, a Department Chairman too busy with other things, three campus committees that failed to ask the right questions and missed the discrepancies in the testimony. It continues with Vice Presidents whose goal is to keep the University from getting a bad name, an arrogant and complacent government office that does not even recognize the importance of the data they hold in their hands and refuses to back down when faced with more truths. It progresses to colleagues who resort to intimidation rather than support for taking the hard road. It does not stop at the doors of the affected university. It penetrates the halls of a great Ivy League university, pollutes the air of an esteemed scientific society and confounds the editors of prominent scientific journals who refuse to allow their pages to be sullied by such an untouchable subject lest they be sued. And these cowards have hidden under the skirts of an inadequate judicial system that relies on judges that don’t even remember their high school science. The scientific community rejoices when it happens to somebody else viz the Retraction Watch (http://retractionwatch.wordpress.com/) but refuses to recognize the gorilla in its own back yard.
You can read about my story on my website: www.helenezhill.com