80 FR 52479 - Findings of Research Misconduct

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 168 (August 31, 2015)

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has taken final action in the following case: Peter Littlefield, University of California, San Francisco: Based on an assessment conducted by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the Respondent's admission, and analysis conducted by ORI, ORI and UCSF found that Mr. Peter Littlefield, Graduate Student on a leave of absence from the Tetrad Graduate Program, UCSF, engaged in research misconduct in research supported by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), training grant T32 GM007810 and grant R01 GM109176. ORI found that the Respondent engaged in research misconduct by falsifying and/or fabricating data in the following two (2) publications:

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 168 (Monday, August 31, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52479-52480]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21421]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Findings of Research 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 taken final action in the following case:
    Peter Littlefield, University of California, San Francisco: Based 
on an assessment conducted by the University of California, San 
Francisco (UCSF), the Respondent's admission, and analysis conducted by 
ORI, ORI and UCSF found that Mr. Peter Littlefield, Graduate Student on 
a leave of absence from the Tetrad Graduate Program, UCSF, engaged in 
research misconduct in research supported by National Institute of 
General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), 
training grant T32 GM007810 and grant R01 GM109176.
    ORI found that the Respondent engaged in research misconduct by 
falsifying and/or fabricating data in the following two (2) 
publications:

 Science Signaling 7:ra114, 2014 (hereafter referred to as 
``Paper 1'')
 Chemistry & Biology 21:453-458, 2014 (hereafter referred to as 
``Paper 2'')

    ORI found that Respondent knowingly falsified and/or fabricated 
data and related text by altering the

[[Page 52480]]

experimental data to support the experimental hypothesis. Specifically:
    1. ORI found falsified and/or fabricated data in Paper 1 in:

a. Figure 5B by manipulation of the HER3 protein concentrations in the 
experiment to provide the desired outcome
b. Figure 6C for the identification of the kinase domain construct 
EGFR-V924R by falsely claiming that both EGFR and HER3 contained the 
kinase domains and the full JM segments, when the JM-HER3 construct 
included cloning tags
c. Figure 6D by manually manipulating the error bars to increase 
statistical significance of the kinase assay

    2. ORI found falsified and/or fabricated data in Paper 2 in:

a. Figure 3C by manually altering some of the data points by 10-20% 
support the desired hypothesis
b. Figure 4A by manipulating data points and reducing error bars and 
failing to report that JM-HER3 construct had cloning tags
c. Figure 4B by reducing several data points by ~ 15%

    Mr. Littlefield has entered into a Voluntary Settlement Agreement 
and has voluntarily agreed:
    (1) To have his research supervised for period of three (3) years 
beginning on August 4, 2015; Respondent agreed that prior to the 
submission of an application for U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) 
support for a research project on which his participation is proposed 
and prior to his participation in any capacity on PHS-supported 
research, Respondent shall ensure that a plan for supervision of his 
duties is submitted to ORI for approval; the supervision plan must be 
designed to ensure the scientific integrity of his research 
contribution; Respondent agreed that he will 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 for period of three (3) years beginning on August 4, 2015, 
any institution employing him 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 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;
    (3) to exclude himself 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 period of three (3) years beginning on August 4, 2015; 
and
    (4) to retraction or correction of the following papers:

 Science Signaling 7:ra114, 2014
 Chemistry & Biology 21:453-458, 2014

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  Acting Director, Office of Research 
Integrity, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 750, Rockville, MD 20852, (240) 
453-8200.

Donald Wright,
Acting Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 2015-21421 Filed 8-28-15; 8:45 am]
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