Neuroscientist allegedly drugged, raped grad student

A top neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University allegedly drugged and raped a grad student at a conference last fall, but didn’t get placed on leave until just a few months ago — after the allegations were brought up by another scientist on Twitter, a report says.

David Sweatt, chair of Vanderbilt’s Department of Pharmacology, remains on leave as officials continue to investigate the claims against him.

Records and emails obtained by BuzzFeed News outline the accusations, which were hurled by an anonymous grad student from Oregon Health & Science University in September 2017.

At the time, Sweatt was working at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The pair met at an undisclosed conference.

The young woman alerted OHSU officials, who then reached out to Vanderbilt and warned that Sweatt was a “potential safety threat.” This was 11 months before they removed him from campus, according to BuzzFeed.

On Aug. 10, Vanderbilt’s medical school dean of basic sciences, Larry Marnett, sent out an email — informing colleagues of the situation.

“I want to make you aware that as of today David Sweatt, Chair of Pharmacology, is on leave,” wrote Marnett.

A Vanderbilt spokesman confirmed the move, saying: “Providing a safe and welcoming environment is a priority, and we take seriously any complaints of misconduct.”

The tweet that tipped the public off had been sent out by Sarah Myhre, a climate scientist at the University of Washington. It was in response to blog post written about Sweatt by Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, praising the neuroscientist and “gifted painter.”

“Hello NIH Director,” wrote Myhre. “Do you know that Dr. David Sweatt, the ‘gifted painter’ you are lauding here, has been accused of drugging and raping a student?”

While OHSU Police were told about the allegations, the woman involved chose to not file a complaint. Sweatt’s bio was scrubbed from the Vanderbilt website on Wednesday.

The South Alabama grad has denied any wrongdoing, speaking through his lawyer in a statement to BuzzFeed.

“Beginning in August, and set in motion by people with a destructive, political agenda that is not tethered to reality, Dr. Sweatt has been targeted by anonymous, irresponsible and unfounded allegations,” wrote attorney Andrew Miltenberg. “He has always conducted himself, both professionally and in his private life, in a respectful, thoughtful and consensual manner.”