Girija Dasmahapatra, a former instructor in the Department of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), committed research misconduct in 11 papers published from 2005 to 2014. Dasmahapatra “falsified and/or fabricated data by reporting the results of Western blot experiments and mouse imaging experiments that examined interactions between multiple histone deacetylase and/or proteasome inhibitors in several cancer models. Specifically, [he] duplicated, reused, and/or relabeled Western blot panels and mouse images and claimed they represented different controls and/or experimental results in” figures in the papers, the HHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) announced Dec. 9. Dasmahapatra, who worked as a part of a team whose research was supported by the National Cancer Institute, agreed to exclude himself from Public Health Service-funded research and to refrain from serving as an advisor to HHS for three years, beginning Nov. 5. ORI said the 11 papers would be “retracted or corrected.” The notice cited Dasmahapatra’s “willingness…to settle this matter.”
According to Retraction Watch, Dasmahapatra was employed by VCU until July and the university launched an investigation into possible fabrications after receiving an anonymous email in December 2014.
Link to full article: https://ori.hhs.gov/content/case-summary-dasmahapatra-girija
Link to Retraction Watch: http://tinyurl.com/q6cfgo2