[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 237 (Monday, December 10, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Page 63709]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-30437]


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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:
    Momiao Xiong, Ph.D., The University of Texas Health Science Center 
at Houston: On November 26, 2001, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) 
entered into a Voluntary Exclusion Agreement with The University of 
Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHSCH) and Momiao Xiong, 
Ph.D., an Assistant Professor at UTHSCH. Based on the report of an 
inquiry conducted by UTHSCH, and any related actions and findings by 
UTHSCH, as well as additional analysis conducted by ORI in its 
oversight review, PHS found that Dr. Xiong engaged in scientific 
misconduct by plagiarizing and fabricating data in National Institute 
of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health 
(NIH), grant application R01 GM64353-01, ``Genetics of Human 
Pigmentation and Skin Response'' (Pigmentation Application), on which 
he was a co-investigator. The plagiarized and fabricated data were 
essential to the scientific validity of the proposed research and were 
important for NIH's scientific evaluation of the Pigmentation 
Application. Dr. Xiong has admitted his actions.
    Specifically, PHS and UTHSCH found that Dr. Xiong: (1) plagiarized 
text from another researcher's grant application, which Dr. Xiong had 
obtained during the NIH confidential review process and used without 
appropriate citation in the Pigmentation Application; and (2) falsified 
research in the Pigmentation Application by (a) falsely claiming that 
he had performed an extensive series of simulations to evaluate the 
power to detect genes influencing pigmentation traits by the proposed 
statistical analysis, and (b) falsely representing estimates from 
previous work on unrelated individuals as being appropriate for large 
families in the proposed research.
    The Voluntary Exclusion Agreement (Agreement) states that Dr. 
Xiong:
    (1) Will not serve as a principal investigator on PHS grants for 
one (1) year, beginning on November 26, 2001;
    (2) Will 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 three (3) years, beginning on November 26, 2001;
    (3) Agrees that he and any institution employing him are required 
to certify, in every PHS application or report in which Dr. Xiong is 
involved: (a) That all persons who contribute original sources of 
ideas, data, or research results to the applications or reports are 
properly cited or otherwise acknowledged; and
    (b) that the applications or reports do not contain any falsified, 
fabricated, or misleading information, for a period of three (3) years, 
beginning on November 26, 2001. This requires Dr. Xiong and the 
institution, with respect to Dr. Xiong's contributions to the 
application or report, to certify that all individuals (both within and 
outside the institution) who contributed to the application or report 
are acknowledged. The institution must also send a copy of the 
certification to ORI; and
    (4) Accepts the following UTHSCH administrative actions: (a) Dr. 
Xiong must send a formal, written apology to the principal and co-
investigators explicitly acknowledging his plagiarism from their grant 
application; (b) for a one year period starting October 11, 2001, Dr. 
Xiong may not: (i) Submit, as a principal investigator, any new grant 
applications, including applications to any federal, state, or local 
government agencies, as well as any private foundations or agencies; or 
(ii) submit any publications without providing certification, co-signed 
by his immediate supervisor, that any manuscript for publication does 
not contain any plagiarized information or any falsified, fabricated, 
or misleading information; (c) for an additional two year period, Dr. 
Xiong must similarly certify any grant application or publication; (d) 
for the next three years, to submit any grant application or 
publication, Dr. Xiong must have a signed statement from his immediate 
supervisor stating that the supervisor has reviewed the materials and 
finds no indication of plagiarism, falsification or fabrication of 
data, nor any other form of scientific misconduct; (e) for the next 
academic year, Dr. Xiong is required to participate in a course in the 
responsible conduct of research, and in the year after completing the 
course, serve as a co-instructor in a small discussion group for all 
breakout sessions of the course; and (f) within two years, Dr. Xiong 
must write a formal essay, of publication quality, in English and 
Chinese, on plagiarism for submission to the Executive Vice President 
for Research, UTHSCH, and for publication.

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. 01-30437 Filed 12-7-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-31-P