[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 126 (Friday, June 28, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33744-33745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16561]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
Findings of Scientific Misconduct
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity
(ORI) has made final findings of scientific misconduct in the following
case:
Vipin Kumar, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology: Based upon
a report forwarded to the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) by the
California Institute of Technology (C.I.T.) dated January 10, 1991, as
well as information obtained by ORI during its oversight review, ORI
found that Vipin Kumar, Ph.D., formerly a scientist at C.I.T., engaged
in scientific misconduct in biomedical research supported by Public
Health Service (PHS) funds.
Specifically, ORI found that Dr. Kumar committed scientific
misconduct by falsifying and/or fabricating Figures 2a and 2b in a
scientific paper published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine,
170:2183-2188 (1989) (JEM paper). ORI accepted the C.I.T. conclusion
that Dr. Kumar ``freely admitted'' that he mislabeled the lanes
[[Page 33745]]
in Figures 2a and 2b, which are labeled to indicate they represent the
results of research from different DNA samples when in fact a number of
lanes are duplicates. Although Dr. Kumar denies that he intended to
deceive anyone, C.I.T. concluded in its Report that the ``deliberate
presentation of duplications of one experiment which are labeled to
indicate they came from separate DNA samples deceives the reader as to
the real source of the DNA in the experiment, where the central point
of the experiment is the similarity of results among different
sources.'' ORI also accepted the C.I.T. conclusion that Dr. Kumar
presented Figure 2c of the JEM paper ``in a very misleading fashion.''
The central observation of the JEM paper is that both alleles of the
alpha chain of the T-cell receptor gene are frequently rearranged. This
conclusion was based, in part, on Figure 2c, which C.I.T. found had
been labeled in a misleading fashion that led the reader to believe
that the heavy band at the top of the blot was an 8kb restriction
fragment (i.e., representing an internal control) rather than
undigested material that failed to enter the gel. Examination of the
original film indicates that there was no evidence that the second
alpha- chain rearranges in mature T-cells. Thus, ORI further accepted
the C.I.T. conclusion that Figure 2 was intentionally falsified and/or
fabricated and that, as a result, ``one of the main scientific results
of this paper was not substantiated by the original data.''
In addition, ORI found that Dr. Kumar committed scientific
misconduct by falsifying and/or fabricating Figure 5b of a manuscript
that was submitted for publication to the journal Cell (Cell
manuscript), but was later withdrawn. ORI accepted the C.I.T.
conclusion that lanes 6, 7 and 8 of Figure 5b are the same as lanes 11,
12 and 13, respectively, even though they are labeled as being from
different samples. ORI also accepted the C.I.T. conclusion that Dr.
Kumar made a number of other materially misleading statements in the
Cell manuscript that were not supported by the primary data. For
example, C.I.T. concluded that Dr. Kumar made a number of materially
misleading statements about the age of mice and the timing of the
injection of peptides into these mice in a paper published in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 87:1337-1341 (1990)
(PNAS paper). This information is material because induction of the
disease studied (i.e., allergic encephalomyelitis) is dependent upon
the age of the mice.
Based upon the findings of scientific misconduct in the C.I.T.
Report, the JEM and PNAS papers were retracted prior to ORI's findings
in this case.
ORI and Dr. Kumar agreed to resolve the case through a negotiated
settlement and limited voluntary exclusion agreement (Agreement), which
the parties agreed shall not be construed as an admission of liability
or wrongdoing on the part of the Dr. Kumar. Dr. Kumar plans to submit a
letter to ORI in which he summarizes his response to ORI's findings.
Dr. Kumar has agreed to exclude himself voluntarily from serving in any
advisory capacity to the PHS, including service on any PHS advisory
committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant for
a period of three years. Dr. Kumar has also agreed to exclude himself
voluntarily, for a period of eighteen (18) months from any contracting
or subcontracting with any agency of the United States Government and
from eligibility for, or involvement in, nonprocurement transactions
(e.g. grants and cooperative agreements) of the United States
Government. However, this provision will not apply to a currently
pending PHS grant application involving Dr. Kumar.
In addition, any institution that uses Dr. Kumar in any capacity on
PHS supported research must concurrently submit a plan for supervision
of Dr. Kumar's duties, designed to ensure the scientific integrity of
Dr. Kumar's research, for a period of three (3) years. Similarly, any
institution employing Dr. Kumar must submit, in conjunction with each
application for PHS funds or report of PHS funded research in which Dr.
Kumar is involved, a certification that the data provided by Dr. Kumar
are based on actual experiments or are otherwise legitimately derived
and that the data, procedures and methodology are accurately reported
in the application or research report, for a period of three (3) years.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Division of Research
Investigations, Office of Research Integrity, 5515 Security Lane, Suite
700, Rockville, MD 20852.
Dorothy K. Macfarlane,
Acting Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 96-16561 Filed 6-27-96; 8:45 am]
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