[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 212 (Friday, November 3, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75641-75642]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24342]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Findings of Research Misconduct

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) gives notice, pursuant 
to Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Handbook 1058.02, Research 
Misconduct, dated February 7, 2014,

[[Page 75642]]

paragraph 6.k., that the Department has made findings of research 
misconduct against Hee-Jeong Im Sampen, Ph.D., a research biologist at 
the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center (VAMC) in Chicago, Illinois. The 
findings were upheld on appeal per VHA Handbook 1058.02, paragraph 25, 
which is the version of the applicable VHA policy that was in effect at 
the time the research misconduct investigation commenced.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shara Kabak, Research Misconduct 
Officer, Office of Research Oversight (10RO), 810 Vermont Avenue NW, 
Washington, DC 20420, 202-632-7620 (this is not a toll-free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: VA has made final findings of research 
misconduct against Hee-Jeong Im Sampen, Ph.D. (``Respondent''), a 
research biologist at the Jesse Brown VAMC in Chicago, Illinois.
    Based on the recommended findings of a joint investigation 
conducted by Rush University and Jesse Brown VAMC, the Department found 
that the Respondent engaged in research misconduct by intentionally, 
knowingly and/or recklessly falsifying/fabricating data included in the 
following three published papers, unpublished manuscript, poster 
presentation and grant application:
    <bullet> PKC[delta] Null Mutations in a Mouse Model of 
Osteoarthritis Alter Osteoarthritic Pain Independently of Joint 
Pathology by Augmenting NGF/TrkA-Induced Axonal Outgrowth. Annals of 
the Rheumatic Diseases. 2016 Dec;75(12):2133-2141. doi: 10.1136/
annrheumdis-2015-208444 (hereafter ``Ann Rheum Dis. 2016'');
    <bullet> Environmental Disruption of Circadian Rhythm Predisposes 
Mice to Osteoarthritis-Like Changes in Knee Joint. Journal of Cellular 
Physiology. 2015 Sep;230(9):2174-2183. doi: 10.1002/jcp.24946 
(hereafter ``J Cell Physiol. 2015a'');
    <bullet> Development of an Experimental Animal Model for Lower Back 
Pain by Percutaneous Injury-Induced Lumbar Facet Joint Osteoarthritis. 
Journal of Cellular Physiology. 2015 Nov;230(11):2837-2847. doi: 
10.1002/jcp.25015 (hereafter ``J Cell Physiol. 2015b'');
    <bullet> ``NGF Selective Inhibition Therapy on Facet Joint Pain''--
DRAFT manuscript for Arthritis and Rheumatism (hereafter ``Arthritis 
Rheum manuscript'');
    <bullet> ``Inhibition of Glial NF[kappa]B Abolished Pain in a Knee 
Osteoarthritis Model''--2016 poster for the Osteoarthritis Research 
Society International (hereafter ``OARSI presentation 2016''); and
    <bullet> VA Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development (BLR&D) 
Merit Award proposal, I01 BX002647-01, ``Osteoarthritis and Knee Joint 
Pain,'' submitted on September 18, 2013 (hereafter ``VA Merit Award 
proposal'').
    Specifically, the Department found that the Respondent 
intentionally, knowingly and/or recklessly committed research 
misconduct by:
    <bullet> Fabricating/falsifying images in Figures 1A and 1C, and 
inflating the ``n'' (sample size) values in Figures 1B and 1E, of Ann 
Rheum Dis. 2016;
    <bullet> Fabricating/falsifying images in Figure 4A of J Cell 
Physiol. 2015a;
    <bullet> Fabricating/falsifying images in Figures 7A and 7B, and 
inflating the ``n'' values in Figure 4A, of J Cell Physiol. 2015b;
    <bullet> Fabricating/falsifying an image and inflating the ``n'' 
values in Figure 1A of the Arthritis Rheum manuscript;
    <bullet> Fabricating/falsifying data and inflating ``n'' values in 
Figures in the OARSI presentation 2016; and
    <bullet> Fabricating/falsifying images in Figures 1A, 4A, 6, 9, 12, 
and 17B of the VA Merit Award proposal.
    Based on these findings of research misconduct, upheld by the Under 
Secretary for Health on appeal in a decision dated April 24, 2023, the 
Department has imposed the following corrective actions:
    (1) Permanent prohibition from conducting VA research;
    (2) Publication of VA's findings of research misconduct;
    (3) Notification to the relevant Federal funding agencies of the 
findings;
    (4) Requesting retraction of the affected publications;
    (5) Prohibition from publishing the Arthritis Rheum manuscript; and
    (6) Prohibition from re-presenting the content of the OARSI 
presentation 2016.

Signing Authority

    Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, approved and signed 
this document on October 26, 2023, and authorized the undersigned to 
sign and submit the document to the Office of the Federal Register for 
publication electronically as an official document of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.

Luvenia Potts,
Regulation Development Coordinator, Office of Regulation Policy & 
Management, Office of General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2023-24342 Filed 11-2-23; 8:45 am]
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