[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 98 (Monday, May 21, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27974-27975]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-12681]


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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) and the Assistant Secretary of Health

[[Page 27975]]

have taken final action in the following case:
    Ayman Saleh, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh: Based on the report 
of an inquiry conducted by the University of Pittsburgh and additional 
analysis conducted by ORI in its oversight review, the U.S. Public 
Health Service (PHS) found that Dr. Saleh, former postdoctoral research 
associate, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, engaged in 
scientific misconduct in research supported by the National Institutes 
of Health.
    PHS finds that Dr. Saleh falsified:
    (A) Data for a manuscript which purported to show Western blots of 
rabbit Bcl-2 and tubulin; the blots were actually obtained from 
different experiments by another researcher using antibody against 
Hsp70 and against Bag-1, respectively;
    (B) The label on a Western blot for Bcl-2 that he presented to the 
inquiry committee as evidence that he had conducted the experiment at 
issue; the blot was actually from a different experiment by a coworker;
    (C) Data for a laboratory figure purported to represent a rabbit 
PARP cleavage blot; the data was from another experiment, and the 
antibody to PARP was not available to Dr. Saleh at that time;
    (D) Western blot data on pcasp-9 and p37/p35 for a manuscript on 
Hsp27; the data represented experiments that could not be performed 
because the cell lines were unavailable at the time; and
    (E) Figure 2b, the panel that shows a Western blot of Casp-9(WT) in 
a publication by Srinivasa M. Srinivasula, Ramesh Hegde, Ayman Saleh, 
Pinaki Datta, Eric Shiozaki, Jijie Chais, Ryung-Ah Lee, Paul D. 
Robbins, Theresa Fernandes-Alnemri, Yigong Shi, and Emad S. Alnemri. 
``A conserved XIAP-interaction motif in caspase-9 and Smac/DIABLO 
regulates caspase activity and apoptosis.'' Nature 410(6824):112-116, 
2001. The Figure 2b data were actually taken from a Western blot of 
Bcl-XL data, in which Dr. Saleh transposed the lanes.
    The experiments examined the regulation of programmed cell death 
(apoptosis), a process that is important to a better understanding of 
cancer. Figure 2b in the Nature paper represented a control experiment 
that confirmed the association of an X-linked gene to a particular type 
of apoptosis.
    Dr. Saleh has entered into a Voluntary Exclusion Agreement with PHS 
in which he has voluntarily agreed for a period of three (3) years, 
beginning on May 3, 2001:
    (1) To exclude himself from any contracting or subcontracting with 
any agency of the United States Government and from eligibility for, or 
involvement in, nonprocurement transactions (e.g., grants and 
cooperative agreements) of the United States Government as defined in 
45 CFR Part 76 (Debarment Regulations);
    (2) 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Division of Investigative 
Oversight, Office of Research Integrity, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 700, 
Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 443-5330.

Chris Pascal,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 01-12681 Filed 5-18-01; 8:45 am]
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