[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 88 (Tuesday, May 6, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25015-25016]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-9858]
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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:
Lois Bartsch, Ph.D., University of Nebraska Medical Center: Based
on the report of an investigation conducted by the University of
Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and additional analysis conducted by the
Office of Research Integrity (ORI) during its oversight review, the
U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) found that Lois Bartsch, Ph.D., former
postdoctoral research trainee, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology,
and Anatomy, UNMC, engaged in scientific misconduct in research
supported by National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of
Health (NIH), grants P30 CA36727 and R01 CA77876 and National Center
for Research Resources (NCRR), NIH, grant P20 RR016469.
Specifically, PHS found that Dr. Bartsch:
Falsified DNA sequence files by deleting a nucleotide and
changing nucleotide designations and reported the altered file as the
ACI rat p16Cdkn2a sequence with a CpG dinucleotide polymorphism in the
upstream region to GenBank, in grant application CA118151, and in the
poster presented to Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL);
Fabricated the claim in grant application CA118151 that
GenBank entries for the human p16Cdkn2a gene had a CpG polymorphism
near the transcription start site;
Falsified the differential methylation of CpG
dinucleotides near the transcription start site of p16Cdkn2a DNA and
reported that tumor tissue was more methylated than normal tissue in
ACI rats treated with estrogen and that the ACI allele was more
methylated than the BN allele in tumor tissue from (BN x
ACI)F1 animals treated with estrogen in grant application
CA118151.
[[Page 25016]]
Dr. Bartsch has entered into a Voluntary Exclusion Agreement
(Agreement) in which she neither admits nor denies ORI's finding of
scientific misconduct; the settlement is not an admission of liability
on the part of the respondent. In accordance with the terms of the
Agreement, she has voluntarily agreed, beginning on April 15, 2008:
(1) To exclude herself 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
referred to as ``covered transactions'' pursuant to HHS' Implementation
(2 CFR Part 376 et seq.) of OMB Guidelines to Agencies on Government-
wide Debarment and Suspension (2 CFR Part 180) for a period of two (2)
years; and
(2) To exclude herself permanently 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 or contractor to PHS for a period of three (3) years.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Division of Investigative
Oversight, Office of Research Integrity, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite
750, Rockville, MD 20852 (240) 453-8800.
Chris B. Pascal,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. E8-9858 Filed 5-5-08; 8:45 am]
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