Better late than never. The scientists and technicians of the largest cancer research center in the country have realized the profound crisis that the center is experiencing and have drawn up a manifesto in which they publicly express their “indignation at the situation in which” the National Center for Cancer Research (CNIO) finds itself.
“This is an unprecedented gesture of unity”, explains to this newspaper one of the main promoters of this reaction, supported by the majority of the organization’s senior scientific officials and by a large part of the staff dedicated to research, he assures. This Wednesday at 1pm they will demonstrate outside the organization’s front door to show their concern about a “prolonged period of crisis that could project a public image that does not represent” their work, according to the document.
The new movement was born after the CNIO fell into a deep crisis that emerged at the end of last year and which led to the death of its top officials, the scientific director María Blasco and the director Juan Arroyo. The former was accused, among other things, of mistreatment and harassment in the workplace. Both had been in their positions for more than a decade and had a declared clash that was bringing the center to an unprecedented situation of paralysis. These layoffs did not solve the crisis. Now attention has focused on an alleged conspiracy of rigged contracts handed over to friendly companies who could have defrauded around 20 million euros from the centre’s coffers, according to a complaint filed with the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office by a former director of the center who was fired with a disciplinary file.
On Tuesday, the center’s board unanimously decided to eliminate the current role of former manager Juan Arroyo, as deputy director of economic affairs, and that of two other managers very close to him: the general secretary, with Laura Muñoz at the helm, and the deputy director of management, José Ignacio Fernández Vera, as EL PAÍS reported. Furthermore, the current director, José Manual Bernabé, in charge of relaunching the center and clarifying any irregular acts, presented his report to the Prosecutor’s Office on what happened to the CNIO’s accounts in recent years. This is an unprecedented situation since the creation of the center in 1998 as the flagship of cancer research in Spain. The cleanup was proposed by the current director and accepted by all members of the center’s board of directors, which includes members of the government, four autonomous communities governed by the PP and three private employers.
“We fully trust that the new management and scientific leadership will favor a phase characterized by transparency and protection of the public interest,” we read in the manifesto, referring to Bernabé and Raúl Rabadán, appointed scientific director, but not yet confirmed, which is expected at the beginning of next year, as he must put an end to his current commitments with Columbia University, where he has worked until now.
“We want society to know that the CNIO research community has continued to work with the same dedication as always and that we will not allow practices unrelated to science to cloud our work or the mission that drives us. Our work is based on rigor, integrity and absolute commitment to the CNIO mission: to advance knowledge about cancer and contribute to the well-being of society. Any irregularity or lack of transparency directly contravenes this purpose and erodes the trust placed in our institution”, adds the poster.
Scientists are trying to distance themselves from the alleged illegalities that have been perpetrated at the center for years. One of their requests is that everything that happened at the CNIO be known.
“We ask for transparent and responsible management. An environment in which management is clear, efficient and honest is the only possible way to do quality science”, they warn. “The CNIO is an international point of reference thanks to its scientific and technical staff. We trust that a new stage will consolidate a stronger, more ethical and more capable center to respond to the challenges of cancer. The researchers of the CNIO remain steadfast in our commitment to scientific excellence and to the society we serve”, they conclude.
One of the eliminated charges is that of José Ignacio Fernández Vera, who resigned as director general of the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology for “personal reasons” after this newspaper revealed that he had spent almost 25,000 euros over two years to rent luxury cars with a private driver to go from Madrid to events in Salamanca, his hometown, and other places in Spain.
