FINDINGS OF SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCT 

NIH GUIDE, Volume 26, Number 23, July 18, 1997

 

P.T. 34



Keywords:

  Ethics/Values in Science & Technol 

  Grants Administration/Policy+ 

 

Department of Health and Human Services

 

Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research Integrity (ORI)

has made a final finding of scientific misconduct in the following

case:

 

Amitav Hajra, University of Michigan:  Based upon a report from the

University of Michigan, information obtained by the Office of

Research Integrity (ORI) during its oversight review, and Mr. Hajra~s

own admission, ORI found that Mr. Hajra, former graduate student,

University of Michigan, engaged in scientific misconduct by

falsifying and fabricating research data in five published research

papers, two published review articles, one submitted but unpublished

paper, in his doctoral dissertation, and in a submission to the

GenBank computer data base.  Mr. Hajra~s doctoral training and

research was supported by two Public Health Service (PHS) grants, and

his experiments were conducted at and submitted for publication from

the National Center for Human Genome Research, National Institutes of

Health (NIH).

 

Specifically, Mr. Hajra fabricated and falsified original research in

the following publications:

 

o  Hajra, A., Collins, F.S.  ~Structure of the leukemia-associated

human CBFB gene.~ Genomics 26(3):571-579, 1995 (Retracted in Genomics

38(1):107, 1996);

 

o  Hajra, A., Liu, P.P., Speck, N.A., Collins, F.S.  ~Overexpression

of core-binding factor ` (CBF`) reverses cellular transformation by

the CBF~-smooth muscle myosin heavy chain chimeric oncoprotein.~

Molecular and Cellular Biology 15(9):4980-4989, 1995;

 

o  Hajra, A., Liu, P.P., Wang, Q., Kelley, C.A., Stacy, T.,

Adelstein, R.S., Speck, N.A., and Collins, F.S.  ~The leukemic core

binding factor ~-smooth muscle myosin heavy chain (CBF~-SMMHC)

chimeric protein requires both CBF~ and myosin heavy chain domains

for transformation of NIH 3T3 cells.~  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.  USA

92(6):1926-1930, 1995;

 

o  Wijmenga, C., Gregory, P.E., Hajra, A., Schrck, E., Ried, T.,

Eils, R., Liu, P.P., and Collins, F.S.  ~Core binding factor ~-smooth

muscle myosin heavy chain chimeric protein involved in acute myeloid

leukemia forms unusual nuclear rod-like structures in transformed NIH

3T3 cells.~  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.  USA 93(4):1630-1635, 1996; and

 

o  Liu, P.P., Wijmenga, C., Hajra, A., Blake, T.B., Kelley, C.A.,

Adelstein, R.S., Bagg, A., Rector, J., Cotelingham, J., Willman,

C.L., and Collins, F.S.  ~Identification of the chimeric protein

product of the CBFB-MYH11 fusion gene in inv(16) leukemia cells.~

Genes, Chromosomes, and Cancer 16:77-87, 1996 (Erratum in Genes,

Chromosomes, and Cancer 18(1):71, 1997).

 

Mr. Hajra included fabricated and falsified data in the following

review articles:

 

o  Hajra, A., Liu, P.P., and Collins, F.S.  ~Transforming properties

of the leukemic Inv(16) fusion gene CBFB-MYH11.~  In Molecular

Aspects of Myeloid Stem Cell Development in Current Topics in

Microbiology and Immunology (L. Wolff and A.S. Perkins, Eds.)

211:289-298, 1996 (Review).  Berlin and New York: Springer-Verlag;

and

 

o  Liu, P.P., Hajra, A., Wijmenga, C., and Collins, F.S.  ~Molecular

pathogenesis of the chromosome 16 inversion in the M4Eo subtype of

acute myeloid leukemia.~  Blood 85:2289-2302, 1995 (Review).

 

Mr. Hajra submitted a fabricated nucleotide sequence in computer data

base entry U22149, ~Human leukemia-associated core binding factor

subunit CBFbeta (CBFB) gene, promoter region and partial CDs.~

GenBank (NCBI, NLM, NIH), March 3, 1995 (withdrawn).  He also

fabricated the majority of data reported in his dissertation (Hajra,

A. ~Transformation properties of the leukemic CBF~-SMMHC chimeric

protein.~ Dissertation, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 1995),

and he fabricated and falsified original research data in a submitted

but unpublished manuscript (Hajra, A., Liu, P.P., Itoh, K., Kelley,

C.A., Speck, N.A., Adelstein, R.S., and Collins, F.S.  ~Myosin heavy

chain properties necessary for cellular transformation by the

leukemic CBF~-SMMHC oncoprotein,~ submitted for publication to

Oncogene on November 29, 1995, and on May 15, 1996).

 

Mr. Hajra has accepted the ORI finding and has entered into a

Voluntary Exclusion Agreement with ORI in which he has voluntarily

agreed, for the four (4) year period beginning July 7, 1997, to

exclude himself from:

 

(1) 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) serving in any advisory capacity to the Public Health Service

(PHS), including but not limited to service on any PHS advisory

committee, board, and/or peer review committee, or as a consultant.

 

Mr. Hajra agreed to request or cooperate in requesting the retraction

or correction of those research publications that have not already

been corrected or retracted.  He also agreed to notify the relevant

editors of the affected review articles that the articles cannot be

relied upon.

 

INQUIRIES

 

For further information contact:

 

Acting Director, Division of Research Investigations

Office of Research Integrity

5515 Security Lane, Suite 700

Rockville, MD  20852

Telephone:  (301) 443-5330

 

.

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