A Tale of Two Harvard Profs: Anversa Opened a Wrong Door, Thomas Closed a Right Door

When I read "The Emperor's New Clothes" as a child, I didn't take it seriously. It seemed like a funny tale, just the adults' way of fooling kids around with their wild imaginations. However, as I grew up, I realized that this story could actually happen in the adult world. It's astonishing to see how even intelligent and respectable individuals can get involved in such situations.

One such example is Dr. Anversa, the former director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Harvard. He was regarded as a pioneer in cardiac stem cell therapy and received numerous accolades, including a research achievement award from the American Heart Association. Unfortunately, when other research teams attempted to replicate his results, they failed. Rather than acknowledging the shortcomings, they were ridiculed for their lack of skill, mirroring the events of "The Emperor's New Clothes."

During that time, Chinese researchers contributed significantly to cardiac stem cell papers, making it a phenomenal parade. However, as we know, the house of cards eventually collapsed. Dr. Anversa had to leave Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women's Hospital after several of his papers were flagged and retracted. In 2017, the hospital settled with the U.S. government for $10 million over allegations of fraudulent use of federal funding.

Dr. Thomas, another distinguished Harvard professor, and former president of the American Society of Echocardiography also took part in a similar parade. He introduced a formula to calculate Tau in an Echo lab, but it was built on flawed assumptions. Despite its logical flaws, his formula kept popping up in papers. Luckily, recent observations show a decline in its use, indicating some rationality among researchers.

However, we believe that promoting ethical standards and maintaining research integrity is crucial. Therefore, we call for the retraction of Dr. Thomas' Tau papers to allow room for the discovery of more accurate and reliable Tau formulas. Instead of relying on invented assumptions, we are confident that research groups will uncover natural Tau formulas, waiting to be discovered. Let us set Tau free from the influence of flawed theories and strive for rigorous and honest scientific progress.