Crack Down on Scientific Fraudsters

By ADAM MARCUS and IVAN ORANSKY, NYT, JULY 10, 2014

DONG-PYOU HAN needed impressive lab results to help his team at Iowa State University move forward with its work on an AIDS vaccine — and to continue receiving millions of dollars in federal grants. So Dr. Han did what many scientists are probably tempted to do, but don’t: He faked the tests, spiking rabbit blood with human proteins to make it appear that the animals were responding to the vaccine to fight H.I.V.

The reason you’re reading about this story, and not about the glowing success of the therapy, is that Dr. Han was caught. In October, following an investigation, he resigned in disgrace. In December, the Office of Research Integrity, part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, announced that he had agreed to a three-year ban on federal funding. Last month, federal authorities arrested Dr. Han and charged him with four felony counts of making false statements. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail.

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