Former UU Researcher Agrees to Five-Year Supervision for Research Misconduct
In its first misconduct finding since November, the HHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) announced on April 4 that Gian-Stefano Brigidi—most recently an assistant professor at the University of Utah (UU)—agreed to have his work supervised for five years if he is supported by Public Health Service (PHS) funding. Brigidi was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at San Diego (UCSD) prior to joining UU. ORI said the finding was based on an assessment by UU and an inquiry by UCSD. The paper was published in Cell in 2019. According to ORI, Brigidi “engaged in research misconduct by knowingly or intentionally falsifying and/or fabricating data and results by manipulating primary data values” and dozens of figures included in a paper, nine applications for funding and several presentations. The false data was used from 2015 to 2022.
During the supervisory period, which began March 24, a committee of several senior faculty members familiar with Brigidi’s work will “provide oversight and guidance,” including reviewing primary data from his lab, and report compliance information to ORI every six months. He also will “exclude himself voluntarily from serving in any advisory or consultant capacity to PHS including, but not limited to, service on any PHS advisory committee, board, and/or peer review committee” and agreed to request that the paper be retracted. The Transmitter reported that Brigidi told the news website “no misconduct occurred during his tenure” at UU; however, ORI listed UU as the location for the poster and presentation. According to The Transmitter, while at UU, Brigidi was awarded $1.4 million stemming from applications containing falsified data, but UU asked for the funding to be terminated. UU officials also told The Transmitter Brigidi no longer worked there.