Notice2021-17777
Findings of Research Misconduct
Primary source
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Published
August 19, 2021
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services Department
Abstract
Findings of research misconduct have been made against Viravuth Yin, Ph.D. (Respondent), former Associate Professor, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL). Respondent engaged in research misconduct in research supported by U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) funds, specifically National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants P20 GM104318 and P20 GM103423. The administrative actions, including supervision for a period of two (2) years, were implemented beginning on August 2, 2021, and are detailed below.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 158 (Thursday, August 19, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 158 (Thursday, August 19, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46706-46707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17777]
[[Page 46706]]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Office of the Secretary
Findings of Research Misconduct
AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: Findings of research misconduct have been made against
Viravuth Yin, Ph.D. (Respondent), former Associate Professor, Mount
Desert Island Biological Laboratory (MDIBL). Respondent engaged in
research misconduct in research supported by U.S. Public Health Service
(PHS) funds, specifically National Institute of General Medical
Sciences (NIGMS), National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants P20
GM104318 and P20 GM103423. The administrative actions, including
supervision for a period of two (2) years, were implemented beginning
on August 2, 2021, and are detailed below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wanda K. Jones, Dr.P.H., Acting
Director, Office of Research Integrity, 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite
240, Rockville, MD 20852, (240) 453-8200.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that the Office of
Research Integrity (ORI) has taken final action in the following case:
Viravuth Yin, Ph.D., Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory:
Based on the report of an investigation conducted by MDIBL and analysis
conducted by ORI in its oversight review, ORI found that Dr. Viravuth
Yin, former Associate Professor, MDIBL, engaged in research misconduct
in research supported by PHS funds, specifically NIGMS, NIH, grants P20
GM104318 and P20 GM103423.
Respondent neither admits nor denies ORI's findings of research
misconduct. The settlement is not an admission of liability on the part
of the Respondent. The parties entered into a Voluntary Settlement
Agreement to conclude this matter without further expenditure of time,
finances, or other resources.
ORI found that Respondent engaged in research misconduct by
knowingly, intentionally, and/or recklessly falsifying and/or
fabricating data included in the following three (3) published papers
and two (2) submitted manuscripts:
<bullet> Smith AM, Dykeman CA, King BL, Yin VP. Modulation of
TNF[alpha] Activity by the microRNA Let-7 Coordinates Heart
Regeneration. iScience 2019;15:1-15; doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.04.009
(hereafter referred to as ``iScience 2019'').
<bullet> Smith AM, Dykeman CA, King BL, Yin VP. Modulation of
TNF[alpha] Activity by the microRNA Let-7 Coordinates Heart
Regeneration. iScience 2019;17:225-29; doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2019.06.017
(hereafter referred to as ``iScience Correction'').
<bullet> Beauchemin M, Smith A, Yin VP. Dynamic microRNA-101a and
Fosab expression controls zebrafish heart regeneration. Development
2015;142:4026-37; doi: 10.1242/dev.126649 (hereafter referred to as
``Development 2015'').
<bullet> Smith AM, Dykeman CA, Yin VP. Modulation of epicardial
TNF[alpha] Activity by the microRNA Let-7 Coordinates the Zebrafish
Heart Regeneration. Manuscript submitted to iScience in 2018 (hereafter
referred to as ``iScience 2018 draft'').
<bullet> Smith AM, Dykeman CA, Yin VP. Modulation of epicardial
TNF[alpha] Activity by the microRNA let-7 coordinates the zebrafish
heart regeneration. Manuscript submitted to PNAS in 2018 (hereafter
referred to as ``PNAS 2018 draft'').
Specifically, Respondent intentionally, knowingly, and/or
recklessly falsified and/or fabricated data by:
<bullet> Reusing, relabeling, and reporting Phosphate Buffered
Saline (PBS) controls as scrambled antisense Locked Nucleic Acids
(LNAs) in the following experimental results:
--RT-qPCR data representing the knockdown of let7 expression in Figure
2B of PNAS 2018 draft, iScience 2018 draft, and iScience 2019
--images of tcf21:Dsred expression in LNA-let-7 treated hearts at 3,
14, and 21 days post- amputation (dpa) showing defects in wound closure
in Figure 2C of PNAS 2018 draft, iScience 2018 draft, and iScience 2019
--quantification of tcf21:Dsred expression within the resection wound
in LNA-let-7 treated hearts in Figure 2D of iScience 2019
--images exhibiting proliferating cardiac muscle (CM) in Figure 3A of
PNAS 2018 draft, iScience 2018 draft, and iScience 2019
--suppression of CM proliferation indices in LNA-let-7 hearts at 3 and
7 dpa in Figure 3B of PNAS 2018 draft, iScience 2018 draft, and
iScience 2019
--severity of the injured heart phenotype in Figure 3C of PNAS 2018
draft, iScience 2018 draft, and iScience 2019
--quantification of the severity of the injury heart phenotype in
Figure 3D of iScience 2019
--electron microscopy images of remote and injury zones of resected 7-
dpa hearts in Figure 4A of PNAS 2018 draft, iScience 2018 draft,
iScience 2019, and iScience Correction
--images of Tg(gata4:GFP) expression in the primordial heart muscle
layer in Figure 4B of PNAS 2018 draft, iScience 2018 draft, iScience
2019, and iScience Correction
--quantification of gata4:GFP expression in control and LNA-let-7
treated hearts in Figure 4C of iScience 2019 and iScience Correction
--RNA transcripts identifying differentially upregulated TNF[alpha]
transcripts in Figure 5A of PNAS 2018 draft, iScience 2018 draft,
iScience 2019, and their resultant qPCR results, which identified
increased TNF[alpha] expression in Figure 5C of PNAS 2018 draft, Figure
5B of iScience 2018 draft, iScience 2019, and Table S1 of iScience 2019
--CM proliferation analyses results in Figures S4B and S4C of PNAS 2018
draft and iScience 2018 draft, and Figures S5B and S5C of iScience 2019
--images representing the function of let-7 in Figure 2C of iScience
Correction and reusing and relabeling images from an unrelated
experiment, such that let-7 function is not represented in the image
--images reporting the function of let-7 in Figure 3A of iScience
Correction
--images representing differences in the effects of miR-101a depletion
on Met2 and PNA expression and the quantification of cardiomyocyte
proliferation in uninjured control and Tg(hs:miR-101a-sp) heat exposed
hearts (CM proliferation analysis) in Figures 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D, and
results in Figure 2E of Development 2015
--muscle, fibrin, and collagen staining images representing increased
scar tissue presence in Tg(hs:miR-101a-sp) heat-treated hearts, as
compared to wild type hearts in Figures 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E, and 3F of
Development 2015
--scarring indices and the size of the injured area in wild type versus
Tg(hs:miR-101a-sp) heat-treated hearts in Figures 3G and 3H of
Development 2015
--differences in (1) the amount of scarring, as represented by AFOG
staining in control and Tg (hs:miR-101-a-sp) ventricles from resected
and heat-treated hearts in Figures 4B and 4C; (2) the amount of scar
tissue in the presence of suppressed miR-101a expression in Tg(hs:miR-
101a-sp) hearts, compared to control hearts in Figures 4H and 4I; and
(3) the quantification of the scarring indices
[[Page 46707]]
in control versus Tg(hs:miR-101a-sp) hearts in Figure 4J of Development
2015
--differences in (1) the amount of scarring, as represented by
comparing AFOG staining in control and Tg(hs:miR-101a-sp) and
Tg(hs:miR-133a1-pre) hearts exposed to long term heat therapy in
Figures 5A, 5B and 5C, or Tropomyosin staining in Figures 5D, 5E, and
5F; and (2) the quantification of the scarring indices, tropomyosin
expression, and injury area in Figures 5G, 5H, and 5I of Development
2015
--increased Fosab expression in Tg(hs:miR-101a-sp) ventricles relative
to controls in Figures 6A and 6B, RNA in situ hybridization studies in
control and regenerating hearts detecting miR-101a expression in
Figures 6C, 6D, 6E, and 6E', and Fosab expression in Figures 6F, 6G,
6H, and 6H' of Development 2015
--images reporting significant differences in Dsred expression,
cardiomyocyte proliferation, collagen and fibrin staining, and scar
tissue removal in ventricles from zebrafish treated with lna-Let-7, as
compared to scrambled control, to support the importance of miR-101a in
scar tissue removal/ventricular regeneration in Figures 6H, 6I, 6J, 7C,
7D, and 7E of Development 2015
<bullet> reporting research methods and statistics that were not
performed in the following experimental results:
--PCR data in the graph represented in Figure 2B of PNAS 2018 draft,
iScience 2018 draft, and iScience 2019, by representing the data from
two (2) remote PCR experiments as being from the same experiment
--PCR data in the graph represented in Figure 2B of iScience Correction
by reusing and relabeling a graph containing data that were the result
of different experimental conditions (exposure to heat shock), to
include scrambled control data
--control data and statistical differences between control and
experimental data represented in PNAS 2018 draft, iScience 2018 draft,
iScience 2019, and iScience Correction, by falsely reporting the use of
both antisense scrambled and LNA oligonucleotides that were designed
and administered to adult animals via intraperitoneal injection at
10ug/g body weight
--representing the ``n'' of one biological replicate or one experiment
as being multiple independent samples or experiments in iScience 2019
and iScience Correction
--control data and statistical differences between control and
experimental data and the reported methods in Development 2015,
concluding that miR-101a controls both CM proliferation and scar tissue
removal, by falsely reporting the use of LNA oligonucleotides to
modulate miR-101 activity in vivo to elucidate its contributions during
adult heart regeneration
Dr. Yin entered into a Voluntary Settlement Agreement (Agreement)
and voluntarily agreed to the following:
(1) Respondent agreed to have his research supervised for a period
of two (2) years beginning on August 2, 2021. Respondent agreed that
prior to submission of an application for PHS support for a research
project on which Respondent's participation is proposed and prior to
Respondent's participation in any capacity on PHS-supported research,
Respondent shall ensure that a plan for supervision of Respondent's
duties is submitted to ORI for approval. The supervision plan must be
designed to ensure the scientific integrity of Respondent's research
contribution. Respondent agreed that he shall not participate in any
PHS-supported research until such a supervision plan is submitted to
and approved by ORI. Respondent agreed to maintain responsibility for
compliance with the agreed upon supervision plan.
(2) The requirements for Respondent's supervision plan are as
follows:
i. A committee of 2-3 senior faculty members at the institution who
are familiar with Respondent's field of research, but not including
Respondent's supervisor or collaborators, will provide oversight and
guidance for a period of two (2) years from the effective date of the
Agreement. The committee will review primary data from Respondent's
laboratory on a quarterly basis and submit a report to ORI at six (6)
month intervals setting forth the committee meeting dates and
Respondent's compliance with appropriate research standards and
confirming the integrity of Respondent's research.
ii. The committee will conduct an advance review of any PHS grant
applications (including supplements, resubmissions, etc.), manuscripts
reporting PHS-funded research submitted for publication, and abstracts.
The review will include a discussion with Respondent of the primary
data represented in those documents and will include a certification to
ORI that the data presented in the proposed application/publication is
supported by the research record.
(3) Respondent agreed that for a period of two (2) years beginning
on August 2, 2021, any institution employing him shall submit, in
conjunction with each application of PHS funds, or report, manuscript,
or abstract involving PHS-supported research in which Respondent is
involved, a certification to ORI that the data provided by Respondent
are based on actual experiments or are otherwise legitimately derived
and that the data, procedures, and methodology are accurately reported
in the application, report, manuscript or abstract.
(4) If no supervisory plan is provided to ORI, Respondent agreed to
provide certification to ORI at the conclusion of the supervision
period that he has not engaged in, applied for, or had his name
included on any application, proposal, or other request for PHS funds
without prior notification to ORI.
(5) Respondent agreed to exclude himself voluntarily 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, or
as a consultant for a period of two (2) years, beginning on August 2,
2021.
(6) As a condition of the Agreement, Respondent will request that
the following papers be retracted in accordance with 42 CFR
93.407(a)(1) and Sec. 93.411(b):
<bullet> Development 2015 Dec 1;142(23):4026-37
<bullet> iScience 2019 May 31;15:1-15
<bullet> iScience 2019 Jul 26;17:225-29
Respondent will copy ORI and the Research Integrity Officer at
MDIBL on the correspondence.
Dated: August 16, 2021.
Wanda K. Jones,
Acting Director, Office of Research Integrity, Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Health.
[FR Doc. 2021-17777 Filed 8-18-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-31-P
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