81 FR 36932 - Findings of Research Misconduct

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 110 (June 8, 2016)

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has taken final action in the following case: Meredyth M. Forbes, Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Based on an assessment conducted by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (AECM), an admission from the Respondent, and additional analysis conducted by ORI in its oversight review, ORI found that Ms. Meredyth M. Forbes, former Graduate Student, AECM, engaged in research misconduct in research supported by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants R01 GM089979, T32 GM007491, R01 GM55101, and R01 GM88202 and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, grant T32 HD007502. ORI found that Respondent engaged in research misconduct by intentionally falsifying and/or fabricating data reported in the following three (3) published papers and four (4) meeting presentations:

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 110 (Wednesday, June 8, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36932-36933]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-13541]


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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:
    Meredyth M. Forbes, Albert Einstein College of Medicine: Based on 
an assessment conducted by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine 
(AECM), an admission from the Respondent, and additional analysis 
conducted by ORI in its oversight review, ORI found that Ms. Meredyth 
M. Forbes, former Graduate Student, AECM, engaged in research 
misconduct in research supported by National Institute of General 
Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants 
R01 GM089979, T32 GM007491, R01 GM55101, and R01 GM88202 and National 
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH, grant T32 
HD007502.
    ORI found that Respondent engaged in research misconduct by 
intentionally falsifying and/or fabricating data reported in the 
following three (3) published papers and four (4) meeting 
presentations:

 Development. In press, published online, Dec 23, 2015; 
doi:10.1242/dev.129023 (hereafter referred to as the ``December 2015 
Development paper'')
 Cell Reports 12:49-57, 2015 (hereafter referred to as the 
``Cell Reports paper'')
 Development 142(15):2704-18, 2015 Aug 1 (hereafter referred to 
as the ``August 2015 Development paper'')
 ``Maternal dazap2 regulates germ granules via counteracting 
Dynein in zebrafish primordial germ cells.'' Laboratory Presentation, 
January 28, 2015 (hereafter referred to as the ``Lab Presentation 
2015'')
 ``Maternal dazap2 regulates germ granule formation in 
zebrafish primordial germ cells.'' Presented at the Germ Cells, Cold 
Spring Harbor, NY, October 2014, NYC-Wide Stem Cell Event, ``Stem Cells 
in the City,'' NY, November 2014, Mid-Atlantic Regional Zebrafish 
Meeting, PA, November 2014, and New York Metropolitan Zebrafish 
Meeting, Cornell, NY, January 2015 (hereafter referred to as ``Poster 
1, 2014-2015'')
 ``Cytoskeleton, microtubules, centrosomes, germline cyst, 
Bucky ball, oocytes.'' Poster presented at the Mid-Atlantic Regional 
Zebrafish Meeting, Bronx, NY, July 2015 (hereafter referred to as 
``MARZ 2015'')
 ``Bucky ball associates with the centrosome and promotes 
microtubule cytoskeleton rearrangements to establish oocyte polarity in 
zebrafish.'' Poster presented at the American Society for Cell Biology 
(ASCB) Meeting, San Diego, CA, December 2015 (hereafter referred to as 
``ACSB 2015'')

    ORI found that Respondent intentionally falsified and/or fabricated 
data for germ-cell development in zebrafish Dazap2 maternal-effect 
mutants (MDazap2) in one (1) paper and two (2) presentations when the 
mutants were not produced nor the data derived from them.
    Specifically, Respondent:
 falsified thirty-eight (38) fluorescent image panels by 
drawing staining in PhotoShop and falsely labeling them in Figures 1F, 
1G, 2A, 2C, 2E, 2F, 2G, 3A, 3D, 4A, and S2A in the Cell Reports paper 
and included some of the same images in seven (7) figures in Lab 
Presentation 2015 and in six (6) figures in Poster 1 2014-2015
 fabricated numbers for data presented in ten (10) graphs in 
Figures 1L, 2B, 2D, 2H, 3B, 4B, 4C, S2B, S2C, and S3B in the Cell 
Reports paper and included some of the same graphs in seven (7) figures 
in Lab Presentation 2015 and in six (6) figures in Poster 1 2014-2015

    ORI found that Respondent intentionally fabricated and/or falsified 
data for zebrafish embryogenesis and oocyte polarity in two (2) papers 
and two (2) presentations when the data were not obtained from actual 
experiments.
    Specifically, Respondent:
 falsified twenty-four (24) fluorescent image panels by drawing 
staining in Photoshop and falsely labeling them in Figures 5B, 5C, 5D, 
5E, 7A, 7B, 7D, 8A, 8B, 9A, and 9B in the August 2015 Development paper 
and included some of the same images in four (4) figures in the ASCB 
2015 poster and in two (2) figures in the MARZ 2015 poster

 fabricated numbers for data presented in eight (8) graphs and 
one (1) illustration in Figures 5F, 7C, 7E, 8C, 8F-I, 9C, and 9D in the 
December 2015 Development paper and Figure 2F in the August 2015 
Development paper and included some of the same graphs in four (4) 
figures in the ASCB 2015 poster and in two (2) figures in the MARZ 2015 
poster

[[Page 36933]]

    Ms. Forbes has entered into a Voluntary Exclusion Agreement 
(Agreement) and has voluntarily agreed for a period of three (3) years, 
beginning on May 6, 2016:
    (1) to exclude herself from any contracting or subcontracting with 
any agency of the United States Government and from eligibility or 
involvement in nonprocurement programs of the United States Government 
referred to as ``covered transactions'' pursuant to HHS' Implementation 
(2 CFR part 376 et seq.) of OMB Guidelines to Agencies on 
Governmentwide Debarment and Suspension, 2 CFR part 180 (collectively 
the ``Debarment Regulations'');
    (2) that she will neither apply for nor permit her name to be used 
on any application, proposal, or other request for funds to the United 
States Government or any of its agencies, as defined in the Debarment 
Regulations; Respondent will further ensure that during the period of 
the voluntary exclusion, she will neither receive nor be supported by 
funds of the United States Government and its agencies made available 
through grants, subgrants, cooperative agreements, contracts, or 
subcontracts, as discussed in the Debarment Regulations; and
    (3) to exclude herself from serving in any advisory capacity to the 
U.S. 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.

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

Kathryn M. Partin,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 2016-13541 Filed 6-7-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4150-31-P