[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 5, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8148-8149]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02487]


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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:
    Bryan William Doreian, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University: 
Based on the admission of the Respondent, ORI found that Dr. Bryan 
William Doreian, former postdoctoral fellow, Department of Dermatology, 
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), engaged in research misconduct 
in research supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 
(NHLBI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant T32 HL07887 and 
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), NIH, 
grant R01 NS052123.
    ORI found that the Respondent engaged in research misconduct by 
falsifying data that were included in:
     Doreian, B.W. ``Molecular Regulation of the Exocytic Mode 
in Adrenal Chromaffin Cells.'' Submitted in partial fulfillment of the 
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, August 2009; 
hereafter referred to as the ``Dissertation.''
     Doreian, B.W., Fulop, T.G., Meklemburg, R.L., Smith, C.B. 
``Cortical F-actin, the exocytic mode, and neuropeptide release in 
mouse chromaffin cells is regulated by myristoylated alanine-rich C-
kinase substrate and myosin II.'' Mol Biol Cell. 20(13):3142-54, 2009 
Jul; hereafter referred to as the ``Mol Biol Cell paper.''
     Doreian, B.W., Rosenjack, J., Galle, P.S., Hansen, M.B., 
Cathcart, M.K., Silverstein, R.L., McCormick, T.S., Cooper, K.D., Lu, 
K.Q. ``Hyper-inflammation and tissue destruction mediated by PPAR-
[gamma] activation of macrophages in IL-6 deficiency.'' Manuscript 
prepared for submission to Nature Medicine; hereafter referred to as 
the ``Nature Medicine manuscript.''
    As a result of the Respondent's admission, the Respondent will 
request that the following paper be retracted: Mol Biol Cell. 
20(13):3142-54, 2009 Jul.
    ORI finds that Respondent falsified numerical values in the Mol 
Biol Cell paper, the submitted Nature Medicine manuscript, and the 
Dissertation by altering the number of samples or the experimental 
results to improve the statistical results. Specifically, ORI finds 
that Respondent:
    1. Falsified the quantification of immunofluorescence for the ratio 
of phosphorylated to unphosphorylated MARCKS protein in response to 
different stimuli in Figure 2 of the Mol Biol Cell paper and in Figure 
12 of the Dissertation by falsifying the sample number as n=15.
    2. Falsified the quantification of immunofluorescence for 
filamentous actin in response to different stimuli in Figure 3 of the 
Mol Biol Cell paper and in Figure 13 of the Dissertation by falsifying 
the sample number as n=15.
    3. Falsified the quantification for the effect of blebbistatin on 
catecholamine release as determined by patch clamp analysis in Figure 
22 of the Dissertation by stating that 14 cells had been assayed when 
only 8 cells had been assayed.
    4. Falsified the Pearson's cross-correlation analysis in Figure 7 
of the Mol Biol Cell paper and in Figure 25 of the Dissertation, used 
to calculate the degree of spatial correlation between pan-chromogranin 
A/B (CgA/B) and the endosomal membrane, by stating that 20 or more 
cells had been tested for each condition when only 9-18 cells had been 
tested for each condition.
    5. Falsified RT-PCR values for iNOS and TNF-alpha expression 
recorded on spreadsheets and presented in Figures 5e and 5f of the 
Nature Medicine manuscript showing the effect of hyper-inflammatory 
macrophage generation on tissue destruction, by falsifying the numeric 
values to fit the hypothesis of the manuscript.
    6. Falsified ELISA graphs for the concentration of TNF-[alpha] in 
the aAB IL-6 mice and their controls in Figure 6j of the Nature 
Medicine manuscript showing the effect of rosiglitazone treatment in 
the mice, by multiplying the experimental values by 100 to match the 
magnitude of the values presented in Figures 21, 6h, and 6i of the 
Nature Medicine manuscript.
    7. Falsified the RT-PCR results presented in the Nature Medicine 
manuscript for quantification of iNOS and TNF-[alpha] RNA expression by 
claiming that the results represent the rmean of three identical 
experiments when the three experiments were normalized differently to 
yield the desired result. Specifically, false results were presented 
for peritoneal macrophages treated in vivo with rosiglitazone and/or 
inhibitors of PPAR[gamma] signaling Figures 1g, 1h, and 1i, and for 
iNOS RNA expresssion in IL6-/- macrophages treated in vitro 
with either SOCS3 antisense oligonucleotides in Figure 2g or the STAT3 
decoy in Figure 2j.
    Dr. Doreian has entered into a Voluntary Settlement Agreement and 
has voluntarily agreed for a period of three (3) years, beginning on 
January 15, 2013:
    (1) To have his research supervised; 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; he agreed that he shall 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 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; and
    (4) To request that the following paper be retracted: Mol Biol 
Cell. 20(13):3142-54, 2009 Jul.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Office of Research 
Integrity,

[[Page 8149]]

1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 750, Rockville, MD 20852, (240) 453-8200.

David E. Wright,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 2013-02487 Filed 2-4-13; 8:45 am]
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