The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) froze a $9.3 million research grant to Emory University because the lead psychiatrist failed to disclose payments he received from drug maker GlaxoSmithKline.

Dr. Charles Nemeroff, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, failed to disclose that he received $262,108 from GSK over three years. According to an open letter from Senator Charles Grassley, (R-Iowa) to Emory University, he was also overseeing a NIH study on five anti-depressants produced by GSK. Previously, Dr. Nemeroff had been instructed by the university not to accept payments of more than $10,000 annually during the grant. The letter said Dr. Nemeroff received more than $2.8 million through consulting arrangements with drugmakers from 2000 to 2007 and failed to report at least $1.2 million of that to Emory.

Sen. Grassley is a fiery supporter of transparency in the medical establishment. He is also promoting the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, which will require drug companies and medical device makers to make public any payments of value above $500 to physicians.

Emory officials are conducting an internal review of Dr. Nemeroff’s financial associations to ensure researchers involved in his grants have disclosed fully all other outside financial relationships.

“We are working with the NIH to do whatever is necessary to assure them we are operating in compliance and maintaining an ethical and objective research program,” David Wynes, Emory's vice president for research administration, said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nemeroff is voluntarily stepping down as principal investigator or co-investigator on all NIH grants at Emory, pending resolution of the case.

“To the best of my knowledge, I have followed the appropriate university regulations concerning financial disclosures,” he told Emory officials in a statement released Tuesday.