[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 149 (Thursday, August 2, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40288-40289]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-19307]


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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) and the Assistant Secretary for Health have taken final action in 
the following case:
    Raghoottama S. Pandurangi, Ph.D., University of Missouri--Columbia 
(UMo): Based on the report of an investigation conducted by UMo and 
additional analysis conducted by ORI in its oversight review, the U.S. 
Public Health Service (PHS) found that Dr. Pandurangi, a former 
Research Assistant Professor at UMo, engaged in scientific misconduct 
by plagiarizing and falsifying research data taken from a journal 
article published by other scientists for use in supplementary 
materials of a research grant application submitted to the National 
Institutes of Health (NIH).
    Specifically, PHS finds that Dr. Pandurangi plagiarized the images 
of data in Figures 2A and 2B and related text in supplemental material 
he submitted in connection with National Heart, Lung, and Blood 
Institute (NHLBI), NIH, grant application 1 R01 HL62517-01A2, 
Myocardial Viability by AII Receptor-99mTc Conjugates,'' in which he 
was the principal investigator. Specifically, Figures 2A and 2B and 
related text were plagiarized from Figures 7C and 7D of the following 
journal publication: Gibson, R., Beauchamp, H., Fioravanti, C., 
Brenner, N., and Burns, H.D. ``Receptor Binding Radiotracers for the 
Angiotensin II Receptor: Radioiodinated [Sar\1\, Ile\8\]Angiotensin 
II,'' Nuclear Medicine and Biology 21:593-600, 1994.
    In addition, Dr. Pandurangi falsified the text in the supplement to 
his NIH grant application by claiming that Figures 2A and 2B 
represented a compound he had developed. Namely, he claimed that Figure 
2A represented radioionated compound \123\I-2C and Figure 2B 
represented radioionated compound \123\I-2C with nonradioactive 
compound 2C added as a competitor. However, Figures 2A and 2B were 
plagiarized from the figures in the above Nuclear Medicine and Biology 
article, which in reality represented radiolabeled [Sar\1\, 
Ile\8\]Angiotensin II, with compound L-158-809 as a blocker/competitor.
    Dr. Pandurangi has entered into a Voluntary Exclusion Agreement 
(Agreement) with PHS in which he has voluntarily agreed:
    (1) To exclude himself from any contracting or subcontracting with 
any agency of the United States Government and from eligibility for, or 
involvement in, nonprocurement transactions (e.g.,

[[Page 40289]]

grants and cooperative agreements) of the United States Government as 
defined in 45 CFR Part 76 (Debarment Regulations) for a period of one 
(1) year, beginning on July 17, 2001;
    (2) that for an additional period of three (3) years following the 
one-year period of exclusion set forth above, any institution that 
submits an application for PHS support for a research project on which 
Dr. Pandurangi's participation is proposed or which uses him in any 
capacity on PHS supported research, or which submits a report of PHS 
supported research in which Dr. Pandurangi is involved, must 
concurrently submit to PHS and ORI (a) a plan for supervision of his 
duties during the particular PHS supported project at issue, which must 
be designed to ensure the scientific integrity of his research 
contribution; and (b) a certification that the data provided by Dr. 
Pandurangi 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 project; and
    (3) to exclude himself from serving in any advisory capacity to 
PHS, including but not limited to service on any PHS advisory 
committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant for 
a period of four (4) years, beginning on July 17, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Division of Investigative 
Oversight Office of Research Integrity 5515 Security Lane, Suite 700 
Rockville, MD 20852 (301) 443-5330.

Chris B. Pascal,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 01-19307 Filed 8-1-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-31-P