Findings of Scientific Misconduct, 65606 [E8-26270]

Agencies

• Office of the Secretary
• DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 214 (Tuesday, November 4, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 65606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-26270]



[[Page 65606]]

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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:
    Jusan Yang, M.S., M.D., University of Iowa: Based on the report of 
an investigation conducted by the University of Iowa (UI) and 
additional analysis conducted by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) 
in its oversight review, this settlement resolves proposed U.S. Public 
Health Service (PHS) findings that Dr. Jusan Yang, former Assistant 
Research Scientist, UI, engaged in scientific misconduct in research 
supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), 
National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant R01 HL48058.
    PHS finds the Respondent engaged in scientific misconduct by 
falsifying and fabricating data that were reported in a scientific 
manuscript intended for publication entitled ``Increased renin 
transcription after inhibition of NF-YA with RNAi reveals through 
regulation of Ea element and Ear2'' and at two professional scientific 
meetings.
    Specifically, PHS found that:
    1. Respondent falsified Figure 1 in the manuscript that purports to 
show the effectiveness of four plasmids targeting different parts of 
the NF-Y coding sequence in inhibiting NF-Y expression by (1) Claiming 
in Figure 1A that the loading control bands were obtained by reprobing 
a Western blot with antibody to GAPDH when he used a prominent 
background (nonspecific) band from the blot probed with antibody to NF-
YA, (2) inappropriately enhancing and manipulating the NF-YA band in 
Figure 1A claiming decreased expression of NF-YA in cultures 
transfected with 2 of the 4 constructs, and (3) falsely claiming in 
Figure 1B that the quantitative data for NF-YA expression obtained by 
scanning Western blot films were based on an n of 4 and that the 
expression of NF-YA in cultures treated with two constructs was 
statistically significantly lower than the control. Versions of the 
same falsified blot and histogram also were reported in several of the 
Respondent's public presentations.
    2. Respondent falsified Figures 4, 5, 6, and 8 in the manuscript by 
claiming in the figure legends that 4 independent repetitions 
contributed to each figure's results when the actual numbers of 
repetitions were n=3 for Figure 4, n=1 for Figure 5, n=3 for Figure 6, 
and n=2 for Figure 8; in Figure 5, error bars based on the Student's t 
test further falsely claim that n was >2. He further falsified Figures 
6 and 8 by reporting smaller standard errors of the mean than were 
obtained from the actual data, thereby giving an enhanced impression of 
rigor for the reported experiments.
    Respondent reported Figures 5, 6, and 8 (without legends) at the 
American Heart Association Council for High Blood Pressure meeting in 
September 2003, and he reported Figures 5 and 8 at the Experimental 
Biology meeting in April 2004.
    Respondent stated that he does not intend to apply for or engage in 
PHS-supported research. However, if such a circumstance were to arise, 
Respondent agreed for a period of five (5) years, beginning on October 
14, 2008:
    (1) That any institution that submits an application for PHS 
support for a research project on which the Respondent's participation 
is proposed or which 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 the 
Respondent's duties to the funding agency for approval; the supervisory 
plan must be designed to ensure the scientific integrity of the 
Respondent's research contribution; Respondent agreed to ensure that a 
copy of the supervisory plan is also submitted to ORI by the 
institution; Respondent agreed that he will not participate in any PHS-
supported research until such a supervision plan is approved by ORI;
    (2) That any institution employing the Respondent submits, in 
conjunction with each application for PHS funds or report, manuscript, 
or abstract of PHS funded research in which he is involved, a 
certification 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; the Respondent must ensure that the institution 
also sends a copy of the certification to ORI; and
    (3) 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.

Chris B. Pascal,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
 [FR Doc. E8-26270 Filed 11-3-08; 8:45 am]
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