Paris

Bernard Bihain is set to take up a new post in Nancy. Credit: FRANCIS TERNET/IMPACT MÉDECIN

Bernard Bihain, the obesity researcher who left French research in 1998 amid allegations of scientific misconduct, is to take up a post with his former employers INSERM, France's national biomedical research agency.

Bihain's claim to have identified and cloned a molecule involved in fat degradation was queried in 1997 by members of his lab at the University of Rennes 1. An internal inquiry commissioned by the French research ministry concluded that the testimony of seven of the whistle-blowers raised doubts about certain results produced by the lab. But no action was taken, and plans for a second, international inquiry were shelved after Bihain closed his lab in August 1998 (see Nature 395, 829; 199810.1038/27502).

After working in the United States for the French biotech company Genset and subsequently for ValiGen, a genomics firm, Bihain returned to France and applied for a new position at INSERM. He is expected to work at the agency's centre for clinical investigation in Nancy, leading a group researching into anti-obesity drugs.

Christian Brechot, director-general of INSERM, says that Bihain is entitled to a permanent INSERM post under French law. He argues that his decision to hire Bihain was based on the researcher's overall scientific record and that the misconduct allegations are a separate issue for the science ministry. But he says he did ask an international team of experts to review a report commissioned from Bihain detailing his past research and future plans. “The opinion was that although some of his hypotheses have not been confirmed, his contribution was of value,” Brechot says.

Bihain, who always denied the allegations, says the charges have never been proved. “I would like to be shown one published scientific fact that is false,” he says.