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Probe Finds Scientist Falsified Stem Cell Images

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 January 2007, 21:00 CST

By DANIEL LOVERING

PITTSBURGH - A former University of Pittsburgh researcher who has co-authored papers with a disgraced South Korean scientist falsified images in a draft report on embryonic stem cells derived from monkeys, a university spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Research Integrity found that Park Jong-hyuk, a postdoctoral fellow from August 2004 to February 2006, committed research misconduct while working under Dr. Gerald Schatten, a professor who also worked with South Korea's Hwang Woo-suk, said Lisa Rossi, a spokeswoman for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

The federal Office of Research Integrity, which oversees misconduct reviews, has barred Park from leading studies funded by U.S. research grants; from applying for the grants; and for a period of three years, from serving on any U.S. Public Health Service advisory committee or peer review committee or as a consultant.

Schatten, Hwang and Park were co-authors on a 2005 article in the journal Science in which Hwang claimed to have produced human stem cell lines tailored to specific patients. Scientists hope such research will help lead to treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and diabetes.

A South Korean academic panel determined Hwang fabricated data to support his claim that he cloned human embryos and extracted stem cells from them. Science withdrew the paper and a related 2004 article.

A previous University of Pittsburgh investigation found that Schatten did not intentionally fabricate data but that he had committed "research misbehavior" by failing to show proper skepticism and signing his name to Hwang's work.

The latest university probe showed Park had misrepresented photographic images of embryonic stem cells derived from rhesus monkeys in a manuscript being prepared for the journal Nature, Rossi said. The report was never submitted for publication.

Park, who returned to his native South Korea last year, intentionally and knowingly falsified images in the manuscript and a similar one in its supplemental materials, the probe found. Rossi declined to elaborate.

Because of the university's findings, the federal Office of Research Integrity determined Park had tried to destroy evidence and made false statements to the university's research integrity panel.

The Pitt investigation was conducted over three months early last year, but the findings were not disclosed until recently because the Office of Research Integrity had not completed its own review.

The director of the Office of Research Integrity did not respond to calls seeking comment. Contact information for Park was not immediately available.

Before coming to Pittsburgh to work with Schatten, Park was a member of Hwang's research team. Park's Pittsburgh research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health that were awarded to Schatten and Magee.

Park worked on federally funded experiments under Schatten's supervision at Magee-Women's Research Institute, which is separate from the University of Pittsburgh, from fall 2005 through early 2006.

Schatten and some of his colleagues notified the university of the misconduct allegations against Park, according to a joint statement from the university and Magee.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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