UW HIV Researcher Falsified Data
From the Seattle Times:
A former University of Washington AIDS researcher committed scientific misconduct by altering images and fabricating data, a UW investigation found.
Investigators recommended that Scott J. Brodie be banned from future employment at the university. All his research is now “viewed with suspicion” and subject to independent verification, according to a UW Investigation Committee Report.
“Accepted scientific practices do not allow a scientist to falsely label an image as suits his or her fancy simply because such work is conducted in the scientist’s lab; to do so is instead a gross deviation of accepted scientific practices,” the investigators wrote.
Investigators found that Brodie falsified data in 15 instances — in published and unpublished journal articles, and grant proposals. The research in question included cellular responses to the HIV virus.
The 16-month investigation of Brodie was unusual and disheartening, said Denny Liggitt, chairman of the UW’s Department of Comparative Medicine and one of the three investigators who reviewed Brodie’s work.
Not only did it cast doubt on Brodie’s own work, but it also created problems for many other researchers who relied on his data, Liggitt said.
“The problem with things like this is that people build on someone else’s knowledge. It wastes money, it wastes time and it can lead science in a wrong direction,” Liggitt said. “Even the smallest misguidance can cripple a very large investigation.”
[…]
Liggitt said scientific-journal editors have become increasingly concerned about the ease with which images can be manipulated through computer programs such as Photoshop. He said an image can often impress a reviewer or make a point that a lot of narrative cannot — and the old adage that an image is worth a thousand words rings true.
He said medical research and HIV research in particular is highly competitive, with the National Institutes of Health making cutbacks and many researchers competing for limited funding. Getting published can help bolster a researcher’s push to land the next grant, he added.
“It’s ugly out there,” Liggitt said. “There are a lot more desperate people because of the cutbacks.”
Even worse, when so much research money in controlled by the government, it causes the entire scientific community to tailor their work to give the government what it wants. That will ultimately skew science to support a political agenda.
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December 4th, 2007 at 10:17 am
This is a total railroad case by the Seattle Times. Seems they didn’t get much for spending legal money for this story. You should do your own investigating but then I guess it is easier to copy and paste.
Think about it the University of Washington spent 16 months pouring through this guys info. for his 8yrs of work and UW did have not one paper retracted and not one grant was given back? Why? Read Research Misconduct at the ORI.hhs.gov site. Institutions are supposed to spend 60 days for inquiry and 120 to investigate NOT 16 MONTHS.
How many people worked in the lab? Answer: A lot. For years the UW never provided proper storage space or good computers for research. I saw research slides stuffed under lab tech work benches and in the cleaning closets. 3 independent labs work in a small space with no IT person to help. They all (lab people) worked to fix stuff when computers crashed or did not have enough storage on computers.
Check out the “investigators” they were anybody Karin Nyrop could get to tell the UW’s story. Find out there names. The Ligget investigator guy (check his background)…he always had a personal beef. He enjoyed participating in the railroad job and the Times gave him even more glory by printing his words.
If anybody is outright guilty of misconduct it is the University of Washington. The put Elizabeth Loftus through the same process and took 21 Months. She stayed and fought the battle till the end and even though the UW gave in and stated no misconduct the damage was done she had to leave and start over in So. Calif.
ORI Misconduct Cases Highest Since 1996;
Office Speeding Case Closures, Official Says
John E. Dahlberg, director of the division of investigative oversight at ORI, confirmed the statistics and told BNA March 13 that since taking over the division last May, he and his staff have tried to channel more of their focus on bringing cases to closure, while at the same time working more aggressively with ORI attorneys to get the misconduct cases handled.
ORI opened 230 cases last year, which Dahlberg said is consistent with the case load of previous years. However, he said ORI sees a “very small tip of the iceberg” in terms of the actual research misconduct that is happening, which he described as “reasonably widespread.” He cited estimates from scientific journals that indicate about 1 percent of all their accepted manuscripts apparently have fraudulent figures.
“If you do any kind of extrapolation, that could translate into lots and lots of cases,” Dahlberg said.