Lawyers for Kenyan primate virologist Moses Otsyula have filed a civil suit with a Kenyan court against Oxford University and eight researchers he alleges "stole" blood samples and data he had taken from orphans for research into viral cofactors and vaccines against HIV/AIDS.

According to legal papers seen by The Scientist, a lengthy civil suit detailing the complaints, with Otsyula as plaintiff and Oxford and the scientists as defendants, has been filed with the High Court of Kenya at Nairobi. The court confirmed the existence of the suit in a telephone call.

The Oxford scientists to be cited in the action, including Sarah Rowland-Jones and Rana Chakraborty, are prominent for their work on HIV-infected prostitutes and children in Kenya whose infections do not seem to progress to AIDS, thus offering a rare window on natural immunity.

News of the rift made headlines during recent weeks in the East African Standard and the United Kingdom's weekly Observer, among other outlets. Otsyula's writ centers around seven specified research papers—for example, one published in Clinical Infectious Diseases in 2003—which used samples taken from children at Nyumbani Children's Home in Nairobi.

"I should have been first author on those papers," Otsyula told The Scientist last week. "Everything should have been done with my consent. First of all, I collected the materials, over 5 years; I built the lab, collected the materials, and developed a theory on how to develop a vaccine from what I could see in the kids," some of whom were long-term survivors. "Then I wrote a proposal and got approval from the national ethics committee. They didn't do any of those things," Otsyula claimed.

Neither was there approval from the board of the children's home, Otsyula said.

However, Father Angelo D'Agostino, founder and medical director of Nyumbani Children's Home, told The Scientist that the virologist's allegations were "fabrications."

D'Agostino told The Scientist Otsyula previously had a research consultancy at the home and was supported to take an Eisenhower Fellowship in the United States, but was dismissed when he set up his own private lab, Pathogen Diagnostics, causing a perceived conflict of interest. "He has been attempting to disparage us and take the clients away from our lab ever since," said D'Agostino. "This is more of the same."

Otsyula said, however, that he was never employed by the home, so he could not be dismissed: "They tried to give me a salary, but I was more interested in helping the children," he said. It was while he was away in the United States that the samples and data went missing, he alleges.

Because of the pending action, Rowland-Jones, Chakraborty, and the other defendants were not available for comment for this story. In a formal statement, the University of Oxford said that it "denies that material has been 'stolen' by its researchers." The university said that it "regards the allegations as defamatory and is concerned that sensational reporting of unsubstantiated allegations may be detrimental to potentially life-saving research into HIV."

Father D'Agostino granted permission for the team's research, the university said. "The research included both the taking of blood samples and the analysis of those samples in the UK. The team understood that they were undertaking this work in full collaboration with Dr. Otsyula."

"The University of Oxford is committed to observing the highest standards of ethics in the conduct of its research," the university's statement continued. "Professor Sarah Rowland-Jones and her colleagues have made it clear that they would not be associated in any way with work that exploits people, particularly vulnerable children living with HIV infection."

Peter Kaluma of Lumumba and Mumma, the lawyers acting for Otsyula, told The Scientist Monday (June 21) that he was seeking a law firm in the United Kingdom to join the action and serve the writ in a British court, which he believed would take "a maximum of 2 weeks."

"We can either get a UK lawyer to serve it on our behalf, or the Chief Justice in Kenya can request his UK opposite number to serve the writ," Otsyula told The Scientist. "I want to have this matter heard as quickly as possible. It's not too difficult, as Kenyan laws are basically British laws."