Top neuroscientist quits job in wake of harassment claim

Earlier this month, Mexico’s leading university, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), announced that renowned neuroscientist Ranulfo Romo Trujillo would leave his position after being disciplined for an unspecified offence, write Inés Gutiérrez Jaber and Rodrigo Pérez Ortega for Science.

According to a 4 March press release from UNAM, Romo Trujillo voluntarily asked to be relieved of his job at UNAM’s University City campus in Mexico City. Sources close to the case say he had been temporarily suspended because a female worker made a formal complaint of sexual harassment against him following an incident in January. But current and former UNAM students and staff say that reports of inappropriate behaviour by Romo Trujillo had circulated for years before his departure.

Romo Trujillo, who works at UNAM’s Institute of Cellular Physiology, did not respond to repeated requests for comment. He is arguably the most famous neuroscientist in Mexico, studying perception, working memory and decision-making. He has more than 150 publications, including in top journals such as Science and Nature; is on the editorial board of Neuron and other journals; and is one of 11 Mexican members of the US National Academy of Sciences.
Full report on the Science site