Karen Ashe

Minnesota Ashe joined the University of Minnesota Medical School in 1992 as an assistant professor of neurology. As of 2022, she has received over $28million in grants from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune described Ashe as a "distinguished professor considered by many to be on the short list for a Nobel Prize for her work".

Alzheimer's research Amyloid-beta protein In 1996—early in her career at UMN—Ashe was the first author on a paper published in Science, entitled "Correlative memory deficits, Aβ elevation, and amyloid plaques in transgenic mice", describing a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, which furthered her rising star as a scientist; the mice are used in research around the world, and students and scientists "come from all over the world to work with her", according to the Star Tribune.

Ashe is a co-author on a 2006 paper published in Nature (retracted in 2024 The paper describes the Aβ*56 oligomer (known as amyloid beta star 56 and Aβ*56) correlating with memory loss in mice prior to the appearance of amyloid plaques. According to a Science article, in 2022 the paper was the fifth-highest cited paper in Alzheimer's research, with approximately 2,300 other articles citing it. The Guardian says the paper was "highly influential" and calls it "one of the most cited pieces of Alzheimer's disease research in the last two decades", writing that it has "dominated the field" of research. The Daily Telegraph states that the "seminal research paper" led to increased drug research funding worldwide. The paper was discussed at the Alzheimer Research Forum as a "star is born".

In 2015, Ashe was a co-author on a paper entitled "Quaternary structure defines a large class of amyloid-beta oligomers neutralized by sequestration", which defines two forms of Aβ based on quaternary structure, type 1 and type 2, that have different effects on memory function in mice. Type 1 is dispersed in the brain and associated with impaired memory. Type 2 is entrapped in amyloid plaques and does not impair memory.

2022 investigation In July 2022, concerns were raised by Matthew Schrag, a Vanderbilt University neuroscientist, These concerns were published in an article in Science authored by Charles Piller which questioned the association between the Aβ*56 protein and dementia symptoms. do not change the conclusions of the paper. No image inconsistencies have been found in other work published by Ashe without Lesné as a co-author. The editors of Nature responded with a July 14, 2022 note stating they were aware of and investigating the concerns raised, that a "further editorial response [would] follow as soon as possible", and that "readers are advised to use caution when using results reported therein".

2024 retraction In May 2023, the Star Tribune reported that Ashe was using new techniques to re-do the work reported in the 2006 Nature study, this time without Lesné, and that she stated "it's my responsibility to establish the truth of what we've published". Piller reported in Science that Ashe "and colleagues to confirm the findings of the 2006 paper", and Ashe states that "the manipulated images did not affect the study conclusions". Ashe also earned the Potamkin Prize in 2006 for her Alzheimer's research, shortly after the publication of the 2006 Nature paper.

Selected publications

The paper questioned in the 2022 investigation: