[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 223 (Friday, November 19, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 67737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-25648]


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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 Acting Assistant Secretary for Health have taken final 
action in the following case:
    Ali Sultan, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard School of Public Health: On 
October 19, 2004, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) entered into a 
Voluntary Exclusion Agreement with the President and Fellows of Harvard 
College (Harvard) and Ali Sultan, M.D., Ph.D., former Assistant 
Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard School 
of Public Health (HSPH). Based on HSPH's inquiry report, the 
respondent's admission, and additional analysis conducted by ORI in its 
oversight review, PHS found that Dr. Sultan engaged in scientific 
misconduct in research funded by National Institute of Allergy and 
Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant 
1 P01 AI060332-01, ``Chemical genetics and malaria drug development,'' 
Subproject 2, ``Screening of target-rich environment.''
    Specifically, PHS and Harvard found that:
     Dr. Ali Sultan plagiarized text, plagiarized three figures 
showing results of an immunofluorescence assay, a phosphorimage, and 
northern blot analysis (Figures 3, 4, and 5, respectively), and 
falsified the data as results of experiments on Plasmodium bergheii, 
instead of P. falciparum as reported in a subproject of the PHS grant 
application 1 P01 AI060332-01, ``Chemical genetics and malaria drug 
development.''
     Dr. Ali Sultan fabricated portions of an e-mail from his 
postdoctoral student that he presented to the HSPH inquiry committee 
purportedly to falsely implicate the student in the submission of the 
plagiarized materials for the grant application.
    The Voluntary Exclusion Agreement states that for a period of three 
(3) years, beginning on October 19, 2004:
    (1) Dr. Sultan agreed to exclude himself from any contracting or 
subcontracting with any agency of the United States Government and from 
eligibility or involvement in nonprocurement programs of the United 
States Government as defined in the debarment regulations at 45 CFR 
part 76; and
    (2) Dr. Sultan agreed 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 FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Division of Investigative 
Oversight, Office of Research Integrity, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 
750, Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 443-5330.

    Dated: November 10, 2004.
Chris B. Pascal,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 04-25648 Filed 11-18-04; 8:45 am]
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