Work hard and play hard like Marcelo Kazanietz

Our story is primarily about the American cancer researcher Marcelo Kazanietz, emeritus professor at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, since April 2024 professor at University of Miami, and honorary professor at University of Buenos Aires in his native Argentina. Also featuring is his second wife and former postdoc and PhD student from back in Argentina, Mariana Cooke, who is presently an assistant professor in Kazanietz’s new lab in Florida.

Kazanietz wrote his biography in the journal of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), of which he is a member. We learn that he is avid fan of Argentinian football, in particular of Racing Club (he even has his own named shirt!) and of course of the national team – Kazanietz even named one of his two sons from the previous marriage Diego, after the legendary Maradona. Our striker himself played football in the NIH team when he worked there as postdoc:

“As a postdoc, I would stay endless hours in the lab waiting for each scintillation vial to be read — and there were hundreds of vials sometimes. No way would I go home until the last vial was read and a graph was made. […] Forty-eight hours in the lab, mostly in the cold room, were not in vain.”

He then continues to describes himself as a great lab head, “committed to creating an environment that nurtures enthusiasm in our trainees“, who expects from his trainees “dedication to hard work, supplemented by an inner hankering to unearth the unknown and a craving for breakthroughs“. And there’s of course another football reference:

“When Lionel Messi raised the World Cup trophy, that action capped years of hard work, sacrifice and perseverance, the fruit of a pure passion to pursue a dream. It embodied the ability of a team to fearlessly thrive through fierce competition.
My best advice: Work hard and play hard. Like Messi, you can become the hero of your scientific journey.”

We will soon see what breakthroughs that lab delivered and how hard Kazanietz worked and played with Photoshop to get at academic success and money. But first, about his leadership style.

In USA, court files are public, so please enjoy the litigation of Michael Durando vs The University of Pennsylvania and Marcelo Kazanietz! Filed on 26 July 2026, Durando being the former postdoc of Kazanietz, who sued for “breach of contract” and “retaliation“:

“For most of his time at Penn, he worked in the laboratory of Dr. Marcelo Kazanietz alongside five other post-doctoral fellows, including Dr. Mariana Cooke, who was Kazanietz’s wife. […] Plaintiff’s concerns arose while he was working in Kazanietz’s lab when he says he was pressured by Kazanietz to help with Cooke’s applications for medical residency programs, which help eventually consumed his effort to the detriment of his academic work.

Frustrated and unhappy about the time he was spending on Cooke’s applications, sometime in late 2019, Plaintiff met with Mary Anne Timmins, the Administrative Director of the Biomedical Postdoctoral Programs Office (“BPP”). He complained to her about the hours he felt forced to spend on Cooke’s medical school applications. He also described to her a lab meeting, which he surreptitiously recorded, at which he says Kazanietz “started screaming at everyone, threatening everyone, that people were saying things about him that were not true and that he would do something or go after people.”

Durando alleged that Kazanietz and his fellow Penn professor Warren Pear retaliated by first preventing his already arranged transfer to a different lab, and then demanding that he resigns instead.

Timmins was forbidden from talking to Durando, then “his lab chair disappeared“, then “his reagents went missing“, then “his lab refrigerator was emptied and his lab equipment was nowhere to be found“. Also, Pear asked his friend Kazanietz for “a letter about Plaintiff’s performance”, which then documented Durando’s lab attendance “limited, his productivity poor, his work ethics meager, his interactions with colleagues “conflictive,” and his behavior disruptive.”“.

In February 2020, this happened (trigger warning – quotes contain prophanity):

“Ten days later, Plaintiff withdrew the letters of recommendation he had written in support of Cooke’s medical residency applications. His actions unleashed a firestorm of e-mails. A
sampling of Cooke’s messages include: “You are a fucking weirdo useless lunatic scumbag”; “You want to play games with me mother fucker?”; “Show up mother fucker”; “You are a fraud, a freaking failure”; “You are not only an aberrant human being but also you are the most shiti [sic] physician ever”; “You totally messed up with the wrong person”; and, “Rot in hell Michael Durando.” Cooke warned Plaintiff that “[i]f either you or any member of your crew ever dare to sabotage my medical residency application or interfere at any level with my professional career, I will not hesitate to press criminal charges. Furthermore, any single attempt to harm my physical/moral integrity as well as my personal property and/or assaulting or vandalizing my personal belongings will be severely punished at the maximum legal level” […]

Kazanietz’s messages included: “On Monday, I will call U of A. I am sorry for you. They will find out the truth about you”; “Think about it and act fast. Remove those letters now before it is too late”; “You let me know no later than tomorrow noon, or I will proceed too”; “Mariana will tell your wife things that she does not want to hear. Believe when I tell you that it is not a good idea to play games with Mariana. Trust me on this one”; “you will have to pay the consequences for your stupid decisions”; and, “now that Mariana has nothing else to lose after you ruined her life, she will not be quiet anymore. She will tell all the truth about you to whoever.”

Plaintiff attached these communications to his email notifying Pear of his resignation”

Possibly connected to the lawsuit, in early 2024 Kazanietz “retired” from his professorship at University of Pennsylvania where he just a few months ago was busy recruiting several new postdocs, and moved to University of Miami in Florida with his wife in tow:

I am here to play games with Kazanietz and his wife Cooke, and I absolutely demand that they write me the same letters, because look what I am doing to their reputation. With the help of the sleuth Actinopolyspora biskrensis.

Interestingly, Durando is not coauthor on any of the 26 bad papers by Kazanietz on PubPeer. No wonder he didn’t want to stay in that lab. Let’s start with Marcelo & Mariana curing prostate cancer:

Martin J. Baker , Suli Zhang , Daniel Zhang , Joshua Searle , Priti Lal , Cornelis P. Vlaar , Surangani Dharmawardhane , Martín C. Abba , Marcelo G. Kazanietz, Mariana Cooke VAV2 Drives EGFR-Mediated Rac1 Responses in Prostate Cancer Molecular Cancer Research (2025) doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.mcr-24-0957 

The Argentinian coauthor above, Martin Abba, is a personal friend of Kazanietz and Cooke, and until a few months ago, a “Voluntary Assistant Professor” in their lab in Miami:

Here is the trio again, a Chinese papermill classic about a random miRNA as a target for cancer therapy:

Amjad A. Aljagthmi , Natasha T. Hill, Mariana Cooke, Marcelo G. Kazanietz, Martín C. Abba , Weiwen Long , Madhavi P. Kadakia ΔNp63α suppresses cells invasion by downregulating PKCγ/Rac1 signaling through miR-320a Cell Death & Disease (2019) doi: 10.1038/s41419-019-1921-6 

More cancer research by Marcelo & Mariana, with colleagues in Puerto Rico:

Julia I. Medina , Ailed Cruz-Collazo , Maria Del Mar Maldonado , Tatiana Matos Matos Gascot , Luis D. Borrero-Garcia , Mariana Cooke, Marcelo G. Kazanietz, Eliud Hernandez Hernandez O’Farril , Cornelis P. Vlaar , Suranganie Dharmawardhane Characterization of Novel Derivatives of MBQ-167, an inhibitor of the GTP-binding proteins Rac/Cdc42 Cancer Research Communications (2022) doi: 10.1158/2767-9764.crc-22-0303 

Cooke didn’t publish that much, our focus is on her valiant husband, and as I mentioned, he has more on PubPeer, currently 26 very bad papers. Here, prostate cancer being cured:

Rachana Garg , Jorge M. Blando, Carlos J. Perez , Priti Lal, Michael D. Feldman , Emer M. Smyth , Emanuela Ricciotti, Tilo Grosser, Fernando Benavides, Marcelo G. Kazanietz COX-2 mediates pro-tumorigenic effects of PKCε in prostate cancer Oncogene (2018) doi: 10.1038/s41388-018-0318-9 

In July 2026, Kazanietz replied on PubPeer with a replacement for Figure S1B and explained:

“I guess that this unintentional mistake occurred during figure assembly. I will be contacting the journal to request advice on how to fix the error.
I wish to clarify that the correct data yields the same result. Therefore, the overall conclusions of the paper remain the same.”

He chose not to explain what happened with Fig 2. In another case, Kazanietz denied the problem outright:

M. Veronica Gavrielides , Anatilde M. Gonzalez-Guerrico, Natalia A. Riobo , Marcelo G. Kazanietz Androgens regulate protein kinase Cdelta transcription and modulate its apoptotic function in prostate cancer cells Cancer Research (2006) doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-06-1139 

Ironically, Kazanietz used to be “Editor of the Controversy and Consensus section” in that AACR journal Cancer Research. He performed the same stupid spiel of denying the obvious here:

M. Cecilia Caino , Jose L. Oliva , Hao Jiang , Trevor M. Penning , Marcelo G. Kazanietz Benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol Promotes Checkpoint Activation and G2/M Arrest in Human Bronchoalveolar Carcinoma H358 Cells Molecular Pharmacology (2007) doi: 10.1124/mol.106.032078 

Again, NIH’s football legend denying his foul play:

Chengfeng Yang , Ying Liu , Federico Coluccio Leskow , Valerie M. Weaver, Marcelo G. Kazanietz Rac-GAP-dependent Inhibition of Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation by β2-Chimerin Journal of Biological Chemistry (2005) doi: 10.1074/jbc.m411629200 

The celebrity coauthor on that study is the American poet and UCSF professor, Valerie Weaver. Another common paper of her with Kazanietz (Friedland et al 2007, decorated with an eternal Expression of Concern) was discussed here:

We really must assume Kazanietz is trolling:

Motonori Nakagawa , Jose Luis Oliva , Devashish Kothapalli , Alaina Fournier , Richard K. Assoian , Marcelo G. Kazanietz Phorbol Ester-induced G1 Phase Arrest Selectively Mediated by Protein Kinase Cδ-dependent Induction of p21 Journal of Biological Chemistry (2005) doi: 10.1074/jbc.m505748200 

That ASBMB-run Journal of Biological Chemistry used to be very harsh on research fraud, but then it made a deal with Elsevier:

As former editor of the repeatedly aforementioned ASBMB’s Journal of Biological Chemistry , Kazanietz is surely safe from the retraction:

John Meshki , M. Cecilia Caino , Vivian A. Von Burstin , Erin Griner , Marcelo G. Kazanietz Regulation of Prostate Cancer Cell Survival by Protein Kinase C∈ Involves Bad Phosphorylation and Modulation of the TNFα/JNK Pathway Journal of Biological Chemistry (2010) doi: 10.1074/jbc.m110.128371 

If you are in doubt on whether Kazanietz’s Journal of Biological Chemistry papers are safe, he is a personal friend of the current Editor-in-Chief Alex Toker:

Hey Editor, only two authors here, whom shall we blame? Is this how one cures prostate cancer, really?

Anatilde M. Gonzalez-Guerrico, Marcelo G. Kazanietz Phorbol Ester-induced Apoptosis in Prostate Cancer Cells via Autocrine Activation of the Extrinsic Apoptotic Cascade Journal of Biological Chemistry (2005) doi: 10.1074/jbc.m506767200 

But maybe ASBMB will investigate Kazanietz’s papers after all? Well, maybe, but later, until 2027 he acts as member of the ASBMB Publications Committee, where he personally “advises the Council on policy and ethical issues that may arise, and advises journal editors about editorial matters“. So there’s a bit of a fox guarding the henhouse situation.

Let’s visit Springer Nature now. Kazanietz’s postdoc and the first author below, Alvaro Gutierrez-Uzquiza, made it to a non-tenured professorship at Complutense University of Madrid in Spain. Look at these duplicated western blots, how come only the first two gel bands got duplicated:

Alvaro Gutierrez-Uzquiza , Francheska Colon-Gonzalez , Thomas A. Leonard, Bertram J. Canagarajah , HongBin Wang , Bruce J. Mayer , James H. Hurley, Marcelo G. Kazanietz Coordinated activation of the Rac-GAP β2-chimaerin by an atypical proline-rich domain and diacylglycerol Nature Communications (2013) doi: 10.1038/ncomms2834 

Lung cancer cured with Photoshop, the first author Cecilia Caino is now associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, she has more on PubPeer (including with Dario Altieri):

M. Cecilia Caino , Cynthia Lopez-Haber , Joseph L. Kissil , Marcelo G. Kazanietz Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma Cell Motility, Rac Activation and Metastatic Dissemination Are Mediated by Protein Kinase C Epsilon PLOS One (2012) doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031714 

This prostate cancer study was celebrated in the local Philadelphia newspaper, because “Kazanietz […] identified a molecular chain of events that could lead to new treatments“:

Rachana Garg , Jorge M. Blando , Carlos J. Perez , Martin C. Abba , Fernando Benavides , Marcelo G. Kazanietz Protein Kinase C Epsilon Cooperates with PTEN Loss for Prostate Tumorigenesis through the CXCL13-CXCR5 Pathway Cell Reports (2017) doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.03.042 

Kazanietz also tried to cure breast cancer:

Laura Barrio-Real , Cynthia Lopez-Haber , Victoria Casado-Medrano , Alexander G. Goglia , Jared E. Toettcher , Maria J. Caloca , Marcelo G. Kazanietz P-Rex1 is dispensable for Erk activation and mitogenesis in breast cancer Oncotarget (2018) doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.25584

More breast cancer cured, isn’t it nice from Marcelo?

Cynthia Lopez-Haber , Laura Barrio-Real , Victoria Casado-Medrano , Marcelo G. Kazanietz Heregulin/ErbB3 Signaling Enhances CXCR4-Driven Rac1 Activation and Breast Cancer Cell Motility via Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1α Molecular and Cellular Biology (2016) doi: 10.1128/mcb.00180-16 

Now, a coauthor of the two paper is above is Kazanietz’s former postdoc Victoria Casado-Medrano. From the court files, we learn that Durando reported his boss for discriminated against a pregnant employee:

“…a complaint of pregnancy-based discrimination that he made on behalf of his lab colleague, Dr. Victoria Casado Medrano. Medrano informed Kazanietz that she was pregnant in November 2019. A few days later, Kazanietz told Medrano that he had “realized that he didn’t have money to cover [her] full year” and that her contract would finish in May instead of August. Medrano testified that she told Plaintiff about the situation and he
recommended she speak with BPP, which she did. At the time, Medrano’s thinking was that her contract was being ended early because of her pregnancy.”

Allegedly, Kazanietz retaliated against Durando for defending Casado-Medrano.

Let’s return to lung cancer being cured. Two authors. Which one to blame?

Mahlet B. Abera , Marcelo G. Kazanietz Protein Kinase CαMediates Erlotinib Resistance in Lung Cancer Cells Molecular Pharmacology (2015) doi: 10.1124/mol.115.097725 

Again, just two authors, again breast cancer is being cured!

Cynthia Lopez-Haber , Marcelo G. Kazanietz Cucurbitacin I Inhibits Rac1 Activation in Breast Cancer Cells by a Reactive Oxygen Species-Mediated Mechanism and Independently of Janus Tyrosine Kinase 2 and P-Rex1 Molecular Pharmacology (2013) doi: 10.1124/mol.112.084293

As you see, these western blots derive from an older paper by Kazanietz, which rots on PubPeer since 2016. It originally drew the attention of the pseudonymous sleuth Claire Francis because of one very problematic coauthor: Silvio Gutkind, professor at University of California San Diego, and a fellow Argentinian. He briefly featured in this article:

Another problematic coauthor is yet another Argentinian – Andres Klein-Szanto, until his retirement in 2022 professor at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia:

Maria Soledad Sosa , Cynthia Lopez-Haber , Chengfeng Yang , Hongbin Wang , Mark A. Lemmon, John M. Busillo , Jiansong Luo , Jeffrey L. Benovic , Andres Klein-Szanto, Hiroshi Yagi , J. Silvio Gutkind, Ramon E. Parsons , Marcelo G. Kazanietz Identification of the Rac-GEF P-Rex1 as an essential mediator of ErbB signaling in breast cancer Molecular Cell (2010) doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2010.11.029 

Kazanietz’s former PhD student and the first author above, Maria Soldead Sosa, made it to associate professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. In his ASBMB biography, Kazanietz boasted: “many of my former trainees pursue successful careers and take leadership positions“. It seems however that just a couple of his former lab members of the last two and a half decades achived anything in academia, one of the most successful being Kazanietz’s second wife Cooke. We saw from the lawsuit how he burns and destroys people, how he sacrifices them for the career of his much younger and rather unhinged wife. And we saw the kind of science he churns out.

There’s more fake trash on PubPeer, as I mentioned. But this is probably how Kazanietz imagines himself fighting cancer:

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