Dong-Pyou Han, a research scientist at the University of Iowa, was working on an HIV vaccine funded by $19 million in NIH grants. To produce positive results, Han spiked rabbit blood samples with human antibodies, making it appear that the vaccine had produced an immune response in the animals.
The fraud was discovered when a colleague noticed anomalies in the data. Han initially claimed the results were legitimate, but the investigation confirmed the fabrication. He was charged with making false statements and research fraud.
In 2015, Han was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison — one of the harshest sentences for research fraud in US history. He was also ordered to pay $7.2 million in restitution. The case illustrated how the pressure to produce results in a high-stakes, high-funding research environment can drive a scientist to fabricate data, and how the consequences of fraud in medical research extend beyond the laboratory to the patients who depend on the results.
He spiked rabbit blood with human antibodies to fake an immune response, costing $19M in wasted NIH grants and a 57-month prison sentence plus $7.2M restitution.
Han spiked rabbit blood samples with human antibodies to fake HIV vaccine results.
The research was funded by $19M in NIH grants.
He was sentenced to 57 months in prison and ordered to pay $7.2M in restitution.
The fraud delayed HIV vaccine research and wasted public funding.
Research fraud in medicine wastes public funding, delays real progress and betrays patients waiting for a cure. The 57-month sentence was the system's answer: fraud is a crime.
Han was sentenced to 57 months in prison. The University of Iowa returned the NIH grant funds. The case prompted NIH to strengthen its research integrity oversight. It is cited as one of the most severe punishments for research fraud in US history.
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