In the past, he returned to China as a director, and today he and his wife are accused of fraud

Shi Xianglin (right) and Zhang Zhuo (left), Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology, Kentucky University School of Medicine, USA (Source: Reference 3)

Written by | Dilly will

Editor-in-charge | Chen Xiaoxue

Recently, the University of Kentucky announced that Shi Xianglin and Zhang Zhuo, who are suspected of academic misconduct in the Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology of the School of Medicine, will start procedures and terminate the employment relationship if they do not voluntarily resign. In addition, donghern Kim, a research scientist who worked in Zhang Zhuo's lab for 8 years, has been fired.

A more than 1,000-page survey report revealed multiple cases of tampering or fabricating data in seven project applications and at least 15 academic papers submitted by the three.

At present, the shi xianglin couple's laboratory has been closed, and 5 laboratory members who received salaries from the fund project have left. Unless approved by the University of Kentucky's Office of Justice, the Shi and Kim are barred from contact with anyone on campus and are barred from entering the University of Kentucky campus except for medical attention.

It has been introduced by the Chinese Academy of Sciences as an overseas talent

Shi Xianglin, many old people in China's scientific research community should still have an impression.

On December 15, 2003, the Institute of Nutrition Sciences of Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences was inaugurated. On February 1 of that year, Shi Xianglin, then a professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology at West Virginia University, was introduced by the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as an overseas talent to serve as the director of the Institute of Nutritional Sciences.

In a February 2004 report from xinmin evening newspaper, Shi Xianglin said, "Last year, my 'net time value' in Shanghai was more than 3 months. On average, I come back once a month and a half, staying for about two weeks each time. ...... This year I am preparing for 7 months in Shanghai and 5 months in the United States. However, I will retain all my positions in the United States for the time being. ”

However, less than three years later, Shi Xianglin applied for his own job as a full professor at a university in the United States on June 1, 2006, for "personal reasons," and submitted a written resignation letter to the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences on December 18, 2006. The next afternoon, the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences decided to "agree to Dr. Shi Xianglin's resignation as director of the Institute of Nutritional Sciences."

The school Shi Xianglin went to was the University of Kentucky in the United States. Previously, he retained a faculty position at the Institute of Nutritional Sciences and at West Virginia University.

Now, Shi Xianglin and his wife have been accused of academic misconduct by the University of Kentucky.

The investigation report revealed nine types of violations

According to a statement released by the University of Kentucky on Aug. 23, the University of Kentucky learned from an off-campus source that Shi Xianglin and others may have misbehaved.

In June 2018, the University of Kentucky officially launched an investigation into allegations of academic misconduct by Shi Xianglin, Zhang Zhuo, and Donghern Kim. On July 24, 2019, a commission of inquiry composed of three professors from the University of Kentucky School of Medicine and the School of Pharmacy completed the final investigation report.

According to Kentucky today, the commission found multiple signs of data inconsistencies from seven project applications submitted by Mr. Shi and others to the national institutes of health and 60 papers published between 2012 and 2018. On this basis, the Commission of Inquiry further investigated data from 7 project applications and 12 papers, as well as 3 other papers that were retracted during the survey.

The investigation found that the three people had 9 serious violations; when the committee asked for raw data, they were able to come up with very little data, which was contrary to the requirements of nih or the University of Kentucky, and also led to the inability to support the models in the papers and fund applications; the lack of organization and supervision of the research work, which led to data tampering and fabrication in the project application or paper; there was deliberate deception, and there was also a case of indiscriminate processing of experimental data and charts in applications and papers. In addition, when the Commission investigated, at least one person under investigation had fabricated and provided documents that had been tampered with or fabricated to support his claims.

In a letter sent to the school's faculty and staff on the morning of Aug. 23, University of Kentucky Academic Vice Chancellor David Blackwell and Vice Chancellor for Research Lisa Cassis said, "This incident involves serious ethical violations that are extremely important to us as members of the academic community." ”

The investigation did not give a chance to plead?

In response to an investigation report on July 16, Mr. Shi said the commission's investigation was deeply flawed, including reaching most of its conclusions without giving the three of them any opportunity to express their views. Shi said that if there had been a chance to argue, "most of the problems could have been solved." He also noted that the falsification and fabrication that many committees considered to be inadvertent mistakes in themselves were minor or missteps.

He also criticized committee members for categorically accusing them of academic misconduct, even though information had been provided about who was responsible for which chart, "without taking into account, that in fact, it was students and postdocs who were operating research, analyzing data and making charts," and that "Shi or Zhang may have neglected to supervise lab members, such as verifying final data to ensure accuracy, but they should not be held responsible for lab members' misconduct, if any."

In addition, Shi Xianglin believes that there may be a "serious conflict of interest" in the investigation. He noted that a paper about 2018 (wang l. et al. The Prostate 78, 390-400, 2018) and one fund application (1r01ca228236-01a1) have allegations of data falsification or fabrication involving Robert Dipaola, dean of the Faculty of Medicine. Dipaola is the corresponding author of the paper and one of several PIs in this fund application. Shi Xianglin said that the main work of the paper and the initial data of the fund were completed by the postdoctoral fellows of Dipaola, while the field of fund application was prostate cancer, which is dipaola's research field, while Shi Xianglin and Zhang Zhuo mainly studied metal toxicity and carcinogenic effects. "Dipaola should answer the questions in the report related to this paper and this fund, and should also be the subject of investigation." Shi Xianglin said. In addition, sidney Whiteheart, one of the members of the Board of Inquiry and director of the Doctor of Medicine/MD Program, was appointed by Dipaola on June 21 this year.

According to Kentucky Today, Dipaola was not investigated because the commission concluded that he had no responsibility for the research regulation of the paper. At present, the paper has been retracted.

The last time Kentucky initiated the termination process for research misconduct was in 2012: Associate Professor Eric J. Smart, vice president of the Department of Pediatrics, was suspected of tampering with data from at least 10 papers and multiple grant applications. After that, Eric resigned.

In October 2018, Retraction Watch, a website focused on disclosing academic misconduct, noticed that Xianglin Shi voluntarily removed three articles from the journal journal of biological chemistry. The papers, which are about cancer risk caused by exposure to toxic chemicals, involve image reuse in articles from 2014 to 2017. The studies were funded by the National Institutes of Health. At the time, the University of Kentucky took note of the retraction, but "could not provide more information," according to Retraction Watch.

On August 22, 2019, the University of Kentucky removed Shi From holding shi as principal investigator and program director of a program at the national institute of environmental health sciences, and replaced him as interim director by Ellen Hahn from the School of Nursing, who has been on the program. Schönlin was also canceled as Williama. Marquard Chair of Cancer Research and Associate Director of Research Integration at the University of Kentucky School of Medicine.

On August 24, the University of Kentucky said in a statement that the school will act resolutely on the few cases of researchers violating the school's requirements and code of conduct, and will not hesitate to investigate misconduct, correct it and take measures to prevent its recurrence.

The findings were submitted to the Federal Office of Research Integrity on Aug. 22, which will decide on next steps, such as whether further review is required, the statement said.

If the Schulins eventually do not agree to resign, the Advisory Committee on Privilege and Tenure will take further action, possibly taking the advice of Kentucky President Eli Capilouto to fire the duo. The University of Kentucky Board of Trustees will ultimately decide whether to accept the chancellor's dismissal proposal.

Resources:

1. University of Kentucky Statement on Academic Misconduct

https://www.uky.edu/prmarketing/statement-research-misconduct

2. married uk professors, scientist lose jobs over major health research misconduct，https://www.kentucky.com/news/state/kentucky/article234301942.html

3. married uk professors, scientist lose jobs over research misconduct,http://kentuckytoday.com/stories/married-uk-professors-scientist-lose-jobs-over-research-misconduct,21187?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0

4. The Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences agreed to Dr. Shi Xianglin's resignation as director of the Institute of Nutritional Sciences, http://www.cas.cn/xw/yxdt/200701/t20070116_983709.shtml

5. The Shanghai Institute of Nutrition Science invites American experts to be "chefs" - Yang Director brings "international nutrition" and https://news.sina.com.cn/o/2004-02-05/15011724494s.shtml

6. Innovative scientific research management system of Shanghai Institute of Nutrition, Chinese Academy of Sciences, http://news.sohu.com/2004/03/01/11/news219251127.shtml

7. Institute of Nutrition Science, Shanghai Academy of Life Sciences, Journal of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Vol. 19, No. 1, 2004, 67-68

8. The paper in which Shi Xianglin was mentioned by Dippaola as the corresponding author

wang, lei, donghern kim, james tf wise, xianglin shi, zhuo zhang, and robert s. dipaola. "p62 as a therapeutic target for inhibition of autophagy in prostate cancer." the prostate78, no. 5 (2018): 390-400.