SAEN Calls Grant Revocation at Minnesota Lab - Primate Researcher Double Dipping
Timothy
Ebner performs heinous experiments on rhesus monkeys at the University
of Minnesota. In these projects, primates are deprived of water,
confined to restraint chairs, and have recording cylinders literally
bolted to their skulls.
As if this cruelty isn�t enough, it appears that this �scientist� has
succeeded in making the federal government pay for his research twice!
Ebner receives two grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
to support his work. Together, these experiments waste over $650,000 in
annual funding.
The degree to which these experiments overlap is startling. The
protocols state:
�We also use the same animals in
multiple studies� and � . . . the two studies associated with this
protocol do have similar aims and use similar tasks that do not require
the monkey to learn different behaviors across studies. Both studies
require the animals to reach, grasp and move an object in each trial.
From a training perspective the tasks are the same. The similarity in
aims are also such that the neural recordings for both studies are
performed at the same chamber site and does not require the need for
additional penetration sites.�
SAEN has contacted the Program Integrity Officer of the NIH�s Office
of Management Assessment to demand an investigation of this fraud, as
well as the refunding of at least one of the grants which could total
over $1 million.
�This is one of the clearest instances of research fraud that I have
ever seen,� said Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T., Executive Director, SAEN.
�Our estimates indicate that this �researcher� is ripping off the
American Taxpayer for approximately $300,000 a year.�.