Accused UA researcher remains in limbo

A noted UA researcher will have to wait another month and a half to hear her fate after UA President Peter Likins delayed a decision Monday on recommendations that she be fired.

Dr. Marguerite Kay, a prominent Alzheimer's disease researcher, made news in April after she was accused by former researchers and other professors of manipulating data to come up with the results she wanted in several studies.

Kay, 50, received worldwide press in May 1996 with a study that suggested vitamin E supplements could slow the decline of the immune and brain systems in aging mice.

"It really just was that he (Likins) needed some more time," said Sharon Kha, a university spokeswoman. "They weren't quite ready, so the Office of Research Integrity granted an extension."

The ORI, a watchdog arm of the National Institutes of Health, has taken interest in the case because Kay's research was funded by a public health service grant, which it oversees.

The UA researcher also has been accused of seriously mismanaging her lab and putting her employees at risk by violating safety regulations.

Neither Kay, her lawyer nor an ORI spokesman returned repeated phone calls earlier this week.