A former scientist at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University was found to have falsified reports in federally funded projects, including two published studies.

Michael Miller, the former professor and chair of the university’s Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, engaged in research misconduct in four studies funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the National Institutes of Health. He falsified and fabricated data in grant applications, manuscripts and in published journals related to alcohol, ethanol and mice experiments, according to a Feb. 27 case summary by the Office of Research Integrity, which investigated the misconduct.

The two journals that published Miller’s work, the Journal of Neurochemistry and Developmental Neuroscience, retracted the reports last month, according to an article published by The Post-Standard on Tuesday. Retraction Watch, a blog that records when research documents are pulled from publications, first reported the retractions.

‘Dr. Miller neither admits nor denies committing research misconduct,’ the ORI published, ‘but accepts ORI has found evidence of research misconduct as set forth above.’

As a result of his misconduct, Miller agreed to refrain from contracting with any U.S. government agency; to have future research supervised for two years after a one-year period of exclusion; to have any institution he works for while being supervised submit his research to be certified by the ORI; and to exclude himself from any participation on an advisory board for three years, according to the summary.

Miller first joined Upstate in 2000 and brought with him more than $3 million in research grants, much of which was put toward research on the effect of alcohol on brain cells, fetal alcohol syndrome and other aspects of neurobiology, according to an Oct. 3, 2000, Upstate press release.

Miller is quoted as being a ‘well-funded, well-published scientist who not only brings to the SUNY Upstate his outstanding record in research, but also his ability as an accomplished administrator and faculty member,’ said Kenneth Barker, then-provost and vice dean of Upstate, in the release.

Miller retired from the university last November.

Doubts concerning Miller’s research first surfaced in 2009, when co-workers alleged he engaged in scientific misconduct. Upstate launched an investigation that involved several interviews and reviews of scientific files and lab notes, according to The Post-Standard article.

Ivan Oransky, the co-founder of Retraction Watch, praised how Upstate handled Miller’s case. He said ‘they did everything by the book,’ according to the article.

There seems to be a growing trend of scientific research fraud cases worldwide, Oransky said in the article. Another recent investigation involved a heart researcher at the University of Connecticut who made up evidence about the benefits of red wine, according to the article.

Derryl Geddes, the director of public and media relations at Upstate, could not be reached for comment.

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Published on February 29, 2012 at 12:00 pm

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