MUSC, 'meat doc' split: Neither party bears any 'ill will' toward the other, University statement says

The Medical University of South Carolina and the Charleston "meat doctor" have "agreed to part ways" through what the university characterized as a "mutually acceptable severance arrangement," according to a statement from MUSC Monday.

Dr. Vladimir Mironov could not be reached. And his attorney, Allan Holmes, did not return several calls seeking comment.

The university released no details of the severance, saying: "MUSC bears no ill will toward Dr. Mironov, and Dr. Mironov bears no ill will toward MUSC."

A settlement offer from MUSC was detailed last week in The Post and Courier. It involved, in part, paying Mironov's salary and benefits through June 30 as well as his legal fees. In exchange, Mironov would agree not to sue the university and would refrain from contacting the media about his employment at MUSC.

He will head to Harvard Medical School beginning in the summer, according to Monday's statement.

A Harvard spokesman has not confirmed where, specifically, Mironov will be working.

He will spend the spring doing research in Brazil.

Mironov, the Russian-educated scientist who had been leading an internationally recognized project to grow in-vitro meat from an animal's stem cells, was suspended Feb. 11 when his meat lab mysteriously was shut down.

The meat lab has attracted national and international exposure in the past several months, following the arrival of a new researcher whose work is being funded by the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

PETA, in an effort to reduce the number of animals killed for human consumption, gave a three-year grant to researcher Nicholas Genovese in an effort to make so-called "cultured meat" available to the general public.

Genovese, who said he discussed the meat research with Mironov late Monday, said he will continue to work on the project -- under Mironov's supervision -- at MUSC until the end of June.

After that, the duo plans to move the research to a different university.

"It's going to take some time to work out," Genovese said. "But Dr. Mironov looked quite relieved today."

Mironov also had played a significant role in a separate $20 million statewide research project to create human organs from a person's own stem cells.

It is unclear what his future role will be in that project.

The reasons for Mironov's suspension remain unclear.

MUSC spokeswoman Heather Woolwine has said the university's investigation involves "a series of HR-related issues, not Dr. Mironov's scientific work."

Reach Renee Dudley at 937-5550.