General
Interest-Scientific Misconduct Finding; post until Feb. 15, 2009
FINDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT
Notice Number: NOT-OD-09-032
Key Dates
Release Date: December 18, 2008
Issued by
Department of Health and Human Services
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:
Homer D. Venters, Jr., M.D.,
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Based on the report of an
investigation conducted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
(UIUC) and extensive additional image analysis conducted by the Office of
Research Integrity (ORI), the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) found that Dr.
Homer D. Venters, former graduate student,
Neuroscience Program, UIUC, engaged in scientific misconduct in research
supported by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of
Health (NIH), awards R01 MH051569 and F30 MH12558 and National Institute on
Aging (NIA), NIH, award R01 AG06246.
Specifically, PHS found that the Respondent committed
misconduct in science:
By intentionally and knowingly preparing and including
duplicate image data in Figures 5 and 10 of PHS fellowship application F31
MH12558, “Neurodegeneration via TNF-alpha inhibition
of IGF-1,” submitted in 1999, which was funded as F30 MH12558 from June 1,
2000, to May 31, 2003. Because the duplicate data were labeled as having been
obtained from different experiments, the results for at least one of the two
figures were intentionally falsified and constitute an act of scientific
misconduct.
By intentionally and knowingly preparing and including
duplicate image data in Figure 3 and/or 4 of a manuscript submitted and
published as: Venters, H.D., et al. ``A New Mechanism
of Neurodegeneration: A Proinflammatory
Cytokine Inhibits Receptor Signaling by a Survival Peptide.' Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences U.S.A. 96:9879-9884, 1999.
By preparing and providing to his dissertation committee
in March 2000 a thesis proposal entitled ``An Alternate Mechanism of Neurodegeneration: Silencing of Insulin-like Growth
Factor-I survival signals by Tumor Necrosis Factor-[alpha],' which contained
five falsified figures: Figures 1.3, 1.4a, 2.1b, 2.3e, and 2.5b. In each
figure, he reused data within the same figure or in another thesis proposal
figure as representing differently treated samples or as data obtained with
different immunoblotting antisera.
In March and April 2001, Respondent included several of
the same falsified figures as in the thesis proposal and multiple additional
falsified figures in his dissertation ``Silencing of Insulin-like Growth Factor
I Neuronal Survival Signals by Tumor Necrosis Factor-[alpha].' In all, Figures
3.3, 3.4a, 3.4b, 4.1b, 4.3a, 4.5b, 5.1a, 5.2, 5.4a, 5.5a, 5.6a, 5.7a, and 5.8a
were falsified. In each instance, he assembled figures by reusing significant
data, on some occasions after manipulating the orientation of the data, either
within the same figure or in other figures related to his thesis and
represented the data falsely as coming from different samples or different
experiments.
Dr. Venters has entered into a
Voluntary Settlement Agreement (Agreement) in which he has voluntarily agreed,
for a period of three (3) years, beginning on November 19, 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 that uses the Respondent in any capacity on PHS-supported research,
or that submits a report of PHS-funded research in which the Respondent is involved,
must concurrently submit a plan for monitoring of the Respondent's research to
the funding agency and ORI for approval; the monitoring plan must be designed
to ensure the scientific integrity of the Respondent's research contribution;
Respondent agreed that he will not participate in any PHS-supported research
until such a monitoring plan is submitted to ORI and the funding agency;
(2) That Respondent will ensure that any institution
employing him will submit to ORI, in conjunction with each application for PHS
funds or report, manuscript, or abstract of PHS-funded research in which the
Respondent 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 analyses, procedures, and methodology are accurately
reported in the application or report; Respondent must ensure that the
institution sends a copy of each 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 or contractor to PHS. Respondent also voluntarily agreed that within
30 days of the effective date of this Agreement:
(4) He will submit a letter to the journal editor, with
copies to his coauthors, identifying his falsification of Figures 3 and/or 4 in
the following article: Venters et al. ``A New
Mechanism of Neurodegeneration: A Proinflammatory
Cytokine Inhibits Receptor Signaling by a Survival Peptide.' Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences 96:9879-9884, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Director
Division of Investigative Oversight
Office of Research Integrity,
1101 Wootton Parkway
Suite 750
Rockville, MD 20852
(240) 453-8800