[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 215 (Tuesday, November 5, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56962-56963]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-28374]
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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) has made a final finding of scientific misconduct in the
following case:
Melissa A. Harrington, University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center: Based upon an investigation conducted by the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical Center, information obtained by ORI during
its oversight review, and Dr. Harrington's own admission, ORI found
that Melissa A. Harrington, Ph.D., former postdoctoral research fellow,
Department of Pharmacology at the University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center, engaged in scientific misconduct by falsifying the
methodology and figures in a manuscript that was accepted for
publication in the Journal of Neuroscience (``Gq and
Gy open two Bradykinin-gated potassium channels via a
membrane-delimited pathway''). The research was supported by a grant
[[Page 56963]]
from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS),
National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Specifically, ORI found that Dr. Harrington had (1) falsely
described the addition of GDP to a G-protein subunit buffer, when she
had omitted it from some of the experiments; (2) falsified three
figures (a) by falsely depicting the course of an electrophysiological
response as being due to a combination of two substances that had not
been combined and (b) by falsely representing a single channel current
record as being an example of a distinct channel type that was elicited
by the substance Gq, which had not been added prior to
the recording; and (3) intentionally incorporated the falsified data
from the experiments in which GDP had been omitted into her statistical
descriptions.
The Journal of Neuroscience manuscript was withdrawn and was never
published.
Dr. Harrington has accepted the ORI finding and has entered into a
Voluntary Exclusion Agreement with ORI in which she has voluntarily
agreed, for the three (3) year period beginning October 23, 1996:
(1) To voluntarily exclude herself from serving in any advisory
capacity to the 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; and
(2) 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 the respondent in any capacity on PHS
supported research must concurrently submit a plan for supervision of
her duties. The supervisory plan must be designed to ensure the
scientific integrity of the respondent's research contribution. The
institution must submit a copy of the supervisory plan to ORI.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Acting Director, Division of Research
Investigations, Office of Research Integrity, 5515 Security Lane, Suite
700, Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 443-5330.
Chris B. Pascal,
Acting Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 96-28374 Filed 11-4-96; 8:45 am]
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