[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 158 (Tuesday, August 18, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 41702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-19795]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Findings of Research 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:
    Ryan M. Wolfort, M.D., Ph.D., Louisiana State University Health 
Sciences Center--Shreveport : Based on the report of an investigation 
conducted by Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center--
Shreveport (LSUHSC-S) and additional analysis conducted by ORI in its 
oversight review, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) found that Dr. 
Ryan M. Wolfort, who was a House Officer in the Department of Surgery, 
and a former graduate student, Department of Molecular and Cellular 
Physiology, LSUHSC-S, engaged in research misconduct in the reporting 
of research supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 
(NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants R01 HL26441 and 
P01 HL55552.
    Respondent's research misconduct related to his dissertation 
research as a graduate student, which he undertook at the same time 
that he also was serving as a House Officer at LSUHSC-S. ORI 
acknowledges Dr. Wolfort's cooperation with the LSUHSC-S misconduct 
proceedings.
    PHS found that Dr. Wolfort engaged in research misconduct by 
falsifying and fabricating data reported in three publications \1\ and 
one manuscript \2\ that had been submitted for publication, reviewed, 
and returned for revision. Specifically, Dr. Wolfort falsified and 
fabricated data reported in research examining the contribution of 
immune mechanisms to early oxidative stress and endothelial dysfunction 
in mice with induced dietary hypercholesterolemia by:
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    \1\ Wolfort, R.M., Stokes, K.Y., & Granger, D.N. ``CN4+ T 
lymphocytes mediate hypercholesterolemia-induced endothelial 
dysfunction via a NAD(P)H oxidase-dependent mechanism.'' Am J 
Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 294:H2619-H2626, 2008; hereafter referred 
to as ``paper 1.'' Identified for retraction.
     Wolfort, R.M., Manriquez, R., Stokes, K.Y., & Granger, D.N. 
``Platelet-derived RANTES mediates hypercholesterolemia-induced 
superoxide production and endothelial dysfunction.'' Arterioscler. 
Thromb. Vasc. Biol. Vol. 28 (pages unavailable), as Epub 2008, July 
17; hereafter referred to as ``paper 2.'' Identified for retraction.
     Wolfort, R.M., Stokes, K.Y., & Granger, D.N. ``Immune cell-
mediated endothelial cell dysfunction during hypercholesterolemia 
involves interferon-[gamma] dependent signaling.'' Am J Physiol 
Heart Circ Physiol, as Epub 2008, September 5; hereafter referred to 
as ``paper 3.'' Retracted in Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 
295(5):H2219, 2008 November.
    \2\ Manuscript submitted to the journal Free Radicals in Biology 
and Medicine, by Ryan M. Wolfort, Katherine C. Wood, Robert P. 
Hebbel, and Neil Granger, ``Mechanisms underlying the vasomotor 
dysfunction in sickle transgenic mice,'' Ms Number FRBM-D-08-00454; 
hereafter referred to as the ``FRBM'' manuscript.
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    1. Admittedly fabricating tabulations and the associated 
statistical analyses of RT-PCR data on Nox-2 mRNA expression in the 
three publications and the manuscript;
    2. Falsifying data and the associated statistical claims, 
specifically by (a) Admittedly falsifying the measurements of 
endothelial function by myographic recordings of aortic ring dilation 
in reaction to vasoactive substances in the three papers and 
manuscript, (b) admittedly falsifying the measurement of cytokine by 
cytometric bead assay in paper 3, and (c) falsifying the measurement of 
superoxide production by cytochrome c reduction in papers 1 and 2, for 
which the underlying spreadsheet data the Respondent claims were 
unintentionally misrepresented, massaged, and improperly collated, but 
for which Respondent acknowledges that the raw data were missing for 
all three papers, admittedly because he intentionally erased files and 
discarded notebooks.
    Dr. Wolfort has entered into a Voluntary Exclusion Agreement in 
which he has voluntarily agreed, for a period of two (2) years, 
beginning on July 13, 2009:
    (1) 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 pursuant to 
HHS' Implementation (2 CFR part 276 et seq.) of OMB Guidelines to 
Agencies on Government wide Debarment and Suspension (2 CFR, part 180); 
and
    (2) 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. (240) 453-8800.

John Dahlberg,
Director, Division of Investigative Oversight, Office of Research 
Integrity.
[FR Doc. E9-19795 Filed 8-17-09; 8:45 am]
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