◆ A former assistant veterinary medicine professor at the University of Maryland will retract or correct seven papers published from 2013 to 2016 that contained reused or fabricated and falsified “Western blot images, microscopy fields, and data of viral titers and mouse immune response” the HHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) announced May 11. Shin-Hee Kim also inserted false or fabricated information into two NIH grant applications, ORI said in its second misconduct finding of 2020.

ORI said Kim “intentionally, knowingly, and/or recklessly falsifying and/or fabricating data” included in the papers and applications. Kim entered into a settlement agreement with ORI that requires any a supervisory plan for any Public Health Service-funded research in which she is involved for a three-year-period beginning March 27. (5/14/20)

◆ The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced May 11 that Xiao-Jiang Li, a former Emory University professor, pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and was sentenced to one-year probation. “Li simultaneously worked for Emory University and two Chinese Universities from 2012 to 2018…conducting similar large animal model research” on Huntington’s disease, the government said, earning “at least $500,000 in foreign income that he never reported on his federal income tax returns.” (5/14/20)

◆ Pennsylvania State University (PSU) agreed to pay the federal government $151,000 to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by making “mischarges to various grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation [NSF], the Department of the Navy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Air Force,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced May 11. “The grants and contracts were awarded to Penn State in 2012-2017 and the isolated alleged mischarges identified occurred in 2013-2016,” the office said. PSU did not admit liability and cooperated with the investigation, and “implemented policy changes to prevent mischarges in the future.”