According to a report by the University Committee, UW-Madison researcher Michele Basso's right to due process was violated when her primate research lab was temporarily shut down last year.
In addition, the report said the All Campus Animal Care and Use Committee exceeded its authority in halting Basso's research on non-human primates to study brain conditions like Parkinson's and Huntington's disease.
The temporary closing of Basso's lab sparked controversy about the ethics of primate research last year, which lead to various ethics panels and a public statement from Chancellor Biddy Martin on the issue.
According to the report, the All Campus ACUC did not conduct formal investigations of the violations and Basso did not receive the list of allegations against her until five months after her lab was shut down.
""I wasn't provided with due process. They levied allegations against me that were never investigated,"" Basso said. ""There was never a hearing, an investigation, anything like that. That's the definition of due process.""
Research Animal Resources Center Director and All Campus ACUC Member Eric Sandgren agrees there were problems with the process.
""I do agree that the process should have been handled in a more efficient and effective, in general a better way,"" Sandgren said. ""Since it occurred there have been a lot of changes to the policies to keep these same problems from occurring again.""
The All Campus ACUC does not have the authority to suspend a researcher's animal use, so Basso's research should never have been suspended, according to the report.
""The university has a campus policy that outlines how these kind of allegations are to be handled and they didn't follow their own policy,"" Basso said. ""The All Campus Animal Care and Use Committee doesn't have the authority to shut down laboratories like this.""
Sandgren said the All Campus ACUC does not have the authority to shut down a lab now, but at the time it did have that power.
""That is true now, because in the last two months we have changed the character of the committee, but that was not true at the time of the action,"" Sandgren said. ""That was one of the factual errors that was in the letter.""
The University Committee report was sent as a letter to Martin Oct. 4 and has yet to receive a response from the chancellor.
Basso said she is ""disappointed and surprised"" that Martin has not responded to the report yet.
However, Basso does not have a plan for what she wants to happen in response to the report.
Basso said, ""I just want to get on with my science and would like to have my name cleared.""
