Exposing the truth to wipe out animal experimentation
Media Coverage About SAEN Stop Animal Exploitation Now
Federal investigation finds that former Penn professor engaged in research misconduct
From Jamie Kim, The Daily Pennsylvanian, July 13, 2023
A federal investigation concluded that former Perelman School of Medicine
associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care William Armstead
engaged in research misconduct, according to the case summary released on
July 3.
Armstead experimented on piglets to test possible treatments for traumatic
brain injury in humans. The Office of Research Integrity, a federal agency
within the United States Department of Health and Human Services, found that
Armstead misrepresented the results of his research across a variety of
materials, including published studies, grant applications, and progress
reports.
The ORI case summary states that Armstead “knowingly and intentionally”
falsified or fabricated 51 figures, along with methods, data, and
conclusions reporting, in five published studies. The research relating to
experimenting on injured piglets was supported with grants from the U.S.
Public Health Service.
Armsteaad agreed to voluntarily exclude himself from research funded by the
federal government for a period of seven years starting June 19, according
to the case summary. He did not respond to requests for comment sent to his
Penn email.
The investigation began in summer 2022 after a peer-reviewed journal issued
a full retraction of three of Armstead’s research papers. The advocacy group
Stop Animal Exploitation NOW! demanded an investigation into allegations of
research misconduct in a series of letters to the ORI.
“When a journal made us aware of inconsistencies in data submitted by Dr.
Armstead, we evaluated the concerns in accordance with our process and
reported our findings to all appropriate agencies,” Penn officials wrote in
a statement to The Philadelphia Inquirer in September 2022. “Dr. Armstead is
no longer a faculty member at Penn, has closed his lab and ended his animal
research activities.”
While the ORI investigation did not question the research techniques used to
injure the pigs’ brains in Armstead’s research, SAEN said in its complaint
letter to the ORI that the manipulation of data represented a misuse of the
piglets’ lives that yielded no legitimate scientific result.
“It is clear from the articles themselves that dozens of ‘newborn pigs’ were
killed in what are clearly scientifically meaningless retracted studies,”
Michael Budkie, executive director of SAEN, wrote in the letter.
Return to Media Coverage
Copyright © 1998-2024 SAEN Stop Animal Exploitation Now. All rights reserved. All content copyright S.A.E.N. unless otherwise noted. May be copied only for personal use or by not-for-profit organizations to promote compassionate and responsible living. All copied and reprinted material must contain proper credits and web site link SAEN.
Fair Use Notice: This document, and others on our web site, may contain copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. We believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
The "SAEN" web site is sponsored by The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation and all-creatures.org
Thank you for visiting SAENONLINE.ORG.
