[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 6, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 47699]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-18979]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Findings of Research Misconduct

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity 
(ORI) has taken final action in the following case:
    Pratima Karnik, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University: Based on 
the admission of the Respondent, ORI found that Dr. Pratima Karnik, 
Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology, Case Western Reserve 
University (CWRU), engaged in research misconduct in research submitted 
to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin 
Diseases (NIAMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), in grant 
application R01 AR062378.
    ORI found that the Respondent engaged in research misconduct by 
plagiarizing significant portions from research grant application R21 
AR061881 that she had reviewed for NIAMS, NIH, and inserting that text 
into her submitted grant application R01 AR062378-01. Respondent also 
plagiarized significant portions of text from the following scientific 
articles and one U.S. patent application available on the Internet:
     BMC Med Genomics 4:8, 2011
     J Am Col. Cardiol 52:117-123, 2008
     Nature 457:910-914, 2009
     J Autoimmun 29:310-318, 2007
     U.S. Patent Application No. 20090047269 (published Feb. 
19, 2009)
     Toxicol Pathol 35:952-957, 2007
     BMC Med Genomics 1:10, 2008
     Open Systems Biology Journal 1:1-8, 2008
     Endocrinology 146:4189-4191, 2005.
    
    Dr. Karnik has entered into a Voluntary Settlement Agreement and 
has voluntarily agreed for a period of two (2) years, beginning on July 
22, 2013:
    (1) To have her research supervised; Respondent agreed that prior 
to the submission of an application for U.S. Public Health Service 
(PHS) support for a research project on which her participation is 
proposed and prior to her participation in any capacity on PHS-
supported research, Respondent shall ensure that a plan for supervision 
of her duties is submitted to ORI for approval; the supervision plan 
must be designed to ensure the scientific integrity of her research 
contribution; she agreed that she shall not participate in any PHS-
supported research until such a supervision plan is submitted to and 
approved by ORI; Respondent agreed to maintain responsibility for 
compliance with the agreed upon supervision plan;
    (2) That any institution employing her shall submit in conjunction 
with each application for PHS funds, or report, manuscript, or abstract 
involving PHS-supported research in which Respondent is involved, a 
certification to ORI that the content is free of plagiarized material, 
data provided by Respondent are based on actual experiments or are 
otherwise legitimately derived, and that the data, procedures, and 
methodology are accurately reported in the application, report, 
manuscript, or abstract; and
    (3) To exclude herself voluntarily 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, Office of Research 
Integrity, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 750, Rockville, MD 20852, (240) 
453-8200.

David E. Wright,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 2013-18979 Filed 8-5-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-31-P