FINDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT

Release Date:  May 24, 2001

NOTICE:  NOT-OD-01-040

Department of Health and Human Services

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) and the 
Assistant Secretary for Health 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 C.F.R. 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.

INQUIRIES

For further information contact:

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

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