[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 208 (Thursday, October 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Page 55848]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-26007]


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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:
    Zhong Bin Deng, Medical College of Georgia: Based on the report of 
an investigation conducted by the Medical College of Georgia (MCG), the 
report of the MCG Adjudication Subcommittee, additional analysis 
conducted by ORI in its oversight review, and the Respondent's written 
and oral admissions and expressed remorse, ORI found that Dr. Zhong Bin 
Deng, former postdoctoral fellow at MCG in Augusta, GA, engaged in 
scientific misconduct in research supported by National Institute of 
Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health 
(NIH), grant 2 P01 AI42288.
    ORI found that Dr. Deng engaged in scientific/research misconduct 
by falsifying research results reported in a paper published in Nature 
Medicine.\1\ Specifically:
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    \1\ Mi, Q.-S., Deng, Z.-B., Joshi, S.K., Wang, Z.-Z., Zhou, L., 
Eckenrode, S., Joshi, R., Ly, D., Yi, B., Delovitch, D.L., & She, 
J.-X. ``The autoimmune regulator 9Aire) controls iNKT cell 
development and maturation.'' Nature Medicine 12:624-626, 2006; 
hereafter referred to as the ``Nature Medicine paper.''
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     Figures 1 and 2 in the Nature Medicine paper purportedly 
show that the autoimmune regulator Arie controls iNKT cell development 
and maturation. In Figure 1(a), the Respondent falsified the Aire +/+ 
(thymus and liver) flow cytometry plots by substituting Aire +/- 
(thymus and liver) flow cytometry plots that were altered to disguise 
their origins and falsified the Aire -/- (bone marrow) flow cytometry 
plot by substituting the Aire +/- (bone marrow) flow cytometry plot, 
also altered to disguise its origin.
     In supplementary Figure 2 of the Nature Medicine paper, 
the Respondent falsified flow cytometry plots as follows: (1) in row 1, 
the Aire -/- (thymus) flow cytometry plot [plot 2] and the Aire +/+ 
>< -/- (thymus) flow 
cytometry plot [plot 3] are duplicates, thus one of the plots is 
falsified; (2) in row 2, the Aire -/- (spleen) flow cytometry plot 
[plot 2] and the Aire -/- >< 
+/+ flow cytometry plot [plot 5] are duplicates, thus one of the plots 
is falsified; (3) in row 3, the Aire -/- (liver) flow cytometry plot 
[plot 2] and the Aire +/+ >< 
-/- (liver) flow cytometry plot [plot 3] are duplicates, thus one of 
the plots is falsified; and (4) in row 4, the Aire -/- (thymus) flow 
cytometry plot [plot 2] and the Aire +/+ 
>< +/+ flow cytometry plot 
[plot 4] are duplicates, thus one of the plots is falsified.
    Dr. Deng has entered into a Voluntary Settlement Agreement in which 
he has voluntarily agreed, for a period of two (2) years, beginning on 
October 2, 2009:
    (1) That any institution that submits an application for PHS 
support for a research project on which the Respondent's participation 
is proposed or that uses him in any capacity on PHS-supported research 
or that submits a report of PHS-funded research in which he is involved 
must concurrently submit a plan for supervision of his duties to ORI; 
the supervisory plan must be designed to ensure the integrity of his 
research contribution; respondent agreed that he will not participate 
in any PHS-supported research until such a supervisory plan is approved 
by ORI;
    (2) That any institution employing him submits, in conjunction with 
each application for PHS funds, or report, manuscript, or abstract 
involving PHS funded research in which the Respondent is involved, a 
certification to ORI that the data provided by the Respondent are based 
on actual experiments or are otherwise legitimately derived and that 
the data, procedures, and methodology are accurately reported in the 
application or report; and
    (3) To exclude himself from serving in any advisory capacity to the 
U.S. Public Health Service (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. E9-26007 Filed 10-28-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-31-P