McMaster professor removed from Canada 150 Chairs website, funding halted after investigation

A trio of federal funding agencies havesuspended payments supportinga high-profile McMaster University professor through theprestigiousCanada 150 Research Chairsprogram after he wasputon leave following an investigation.

A representative of the programconfirmed on Tuesday that Jonathan Pruitt's online research profile on the government'swebsite had also been pulled down.

The coveted chair positions weremeant to boost Canada'sreputation for excellence in scienceand innovation by investing more than $117 million to attracttop-tier researchers and scholars from around the world.

Pruitt, anevolutionary ecologist who McMasterdescribedas an "internationally recognized" academic, managed to land one of the sought-after seats.

But now he's been wiped from the program'swebsite and the list of chairholders.

The change came after McMaster notified the program about a change in Pruitt's status, according to a statement sent to CBC on behalf of the Canada 150 Research Chairs program.

"As a result,payments to support the Chairholder and their researchprofile have been suspended temporarily pending further notice from McMaster," it read.

"The Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat is also aware of the allegations of breaches of policies and take these matters seriously."

Pruitt did not respond to requests for comment sent tohis McMaster email address.

He was put on paid administrative leave in November after an investigation the universitysaid was sparked by a "series of concerns" raised internally and externally concerning a"most serious matter."

McMaster has not supplied any specific details on those concerns, but did say the investigation took place underthe university's policies, including itsresearch integrity policy.

TheHamilton Spectator previously reportedsomescientific journals and academic colleagues raised issues with some of his data, which led to academic articles beingretracted.

Concerns raised about data manipulation

Nicholas DiRienzowas one of the academics who worked with Pruitt and later saw theirresearchretracted.

That led toa stressful time spending"hundreds of hours exploring data, writing reports, workingwith editors," in an effort to do what"we could to correct the record on papers we were directly involved in and access to data on," he previously told CBC.

DiRienzohas called for McMaster to be more transparent about its investigation and findings.

He described news that Pruitt had been put on leave as a "relief" and said the university should have taken that stepa year ago.

"Multiple papers had been retracted across multiple journals," DiRienzowrote in an email."All those retractions required us to deeply demonstrate that he manipulated data."

Manipulating, changing or omitting data and findings is considered research misconduct under McMaster'spolicy.

A finding of research misconduct can result in consequences ranging from a letter of concern to sanctions including withdrawing research privileges, suspension or dismissal.

No updates on investigation

Pruitt joined McMaster in 2018, comingfrom the University of California, Santa Barbara.

His work focused on the"collective traits of different animal societies" including ants, wasps and spiders and how those traitsaffect their survival.

McMaster spokesperson Wade Hemsworth confirmed the university had alerted the government funders that Pruitt had been put on leave.

"We continue to discuss the funding implications with the Canada 150 Chair program," he said.

"The complaints at the heart of this investigation are, fortunately, rare and they are not unique to McMaster," he added when askedwhether the investigation had any impact on the university's reputation.

"We have strong policies in place and these are important in safeguarding and reinforcing the university's reputation for integrity in all aspects of research."

Hemsworth said there were no updates on the investigation and arrangements have been made so the students who were working with Pruitt can continue their studies.