Cardiologist Investigation Continues

Amid a state investigation into the alleged financial misconduct of top Medical School researcher Dr. Bernardo Nadal-Ginard, sources are also accusing the doctor of violating faculty salary caps.

The accusation surfaced yesterday in a Boston Globe report that follows days after state officials began an investigation into allegations that Nadal-Ginard, Nadas Professor of Pediatrics diverted more than $100,000 from the cardiology group's revenue to add to his personal art collection and received a substantially larger pension than his colleagues.

The Globe report also raised questions about whether Nadal-Ginard had been victimized by other cardiologists at the hospital.

Nadal-Ginard, head of the joint Harvard-MIT M.D./Ph.D. program, could not be reached for comment last night. The Dean for Faculty Affairs in the Medical School could not be reached yesterday.

Nadal-Ginard, chief of cardiology at the Boston Children's Hospital, and his colleagues in the Children's Heart Foundation, the hospital's cardiology practice, deferred part of their salaries to their pension plans over the years, The Globe reported.

When he and two other cardiologists, Dr. James Lock and Dr. Michael Freed, cashed out the pension plan last year, Nadal-Ginard received between $4 million and $5 mil- lion--far more than any other member of thegroup, according to the report.

Retirement Funds

Investigators are focusing on the retirementfunds of the foundation, according to The Globe.

Lock declined to comment yesterday and Freedcould not be reached.

Though Nadal-Ginard has been described asdemanding and difficult to work with, many of hiscolleagues, assistants and students are comingforward in support of him.

"My dealings with Bernardo have made me feel,without qualification, that he is a person ofutmost integrity, so I cannot believe this anddon't," Leslie Leinwand, a former colleague ofNadal-Ginard, told The Globe.

Leinwand, a molecular biologist at AlbertEinstein College of Medicine, said she received 10calls in one morning from other scientists seekingways to support him.

"I have no idea why, if the accusations weretrue, he would risk all he's built over theyears," Jay Schneider, one of Nadal-Ginard'slaboratory assistants, told the Globe yesterday

Retirement Funds

Investigators are focusing on the retirementfunds of the foundation, according to The Globe.

Lock declined to comment yesterday and Freedcould not be reached.

Though Nadal-Ginard has been described asdemanding and difficult to work with, many of hiscolleagues, assistants and students are comingforward in support of him.

"My dealings with Bernardo have made me feel,without qualification, that he is a person ofutmost integrity, so I cannot believe this anddon't," Leslie Leinwand, a former colleague ofNadal-Ginard, told The Globe.

Leinwand, a molecular biologist at AlbertEinstein College of Medicine, said she received 10calls in one morning from other scientists seekingways to support him.

"I have no idea why, if the accusations weretrue, he would risk all he's built over theyears," Jay Schneider, one of Nadal-Ginard'slaboratory assistants, told the Globe yesterday