A building at Emory U. The university investigated two professors following a warning from the National Institutes of Health about foreign influence on American research.
Two faculty members are no longer employed by Emory University after an investigation found they did not properly disclose their research relationship with China, Emory officials said on Thursday.
The announcement made the private Atlanta university the second major research institution in two months to say it had identified faculty members who had not properly disclosed this information. The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas ousted three scientists who had been investigated for inappropriately sharing research with third parties and failing to disclose conflicts of interest, the Houston Chronicle reported in April.
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Daniel Mayer, Wikimedia Commons
A building at Emory U. The university investigated two professors following a warning from the National Institutes of Health about foreign influence on American research.
Two faculty members are no longer employed by Emory University after an investigation found they did not properly disclose their research relationship with China, Emory officials said on Thursday.
The announcement made the private Atlanta university the second major research institution in two months to say it had identified faculty members who had not properly disclosed this information. The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas ousted three scientists who had been investigated for inappropriately sharing research with third parties and failing to disclose conflicts of interest, the Houston Chronicle reported in April.
Emory said its investigation had been prompted by a letter from the National Institutes of Health to multiple research universities. In August the federal agency said it was concerned that people could divert confidential information to foreign governments. It also said it would try to mitigate that risk “while continuing NIH’s long tradition of collaborations.”
The NIH has looked into researchers at 55 institutions, Francis S. Collins, its director, told U.S. senators at an Appropriations Committee hearing in April.
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At Emory the faculty members “failed to fully disclose foreign sources of research funding and the extent of their work for research institutions and universities in China,” a university spokesman said in a written statement. The university did not name the scientists.
The United States and China are each other’s largest research collaborator, according to the Nature Index, which tracks collaborations in papers published in 82 top science journals. Those ties are under particular scrutiny as the nations’ relationship has been strained in the past year over trade and other disputes.
The NIH has said that failing to disclose foreign investment in research while applying for U.S. funding is an issue because the agency does not fund projects that can receive other backing.
Emory is “committed” to its exchanges with researchers globally, the statement said. “At the same time, Emory also takes very seriously its obligation to be a good steward of federal research dollars and to ensure compliance with all funding disclosure and other requirements.”
Nell Gluckman is a senior reporter who writes about research, ethics, funding issues, affirmative action, and other higher-education topics. You can follow her on Twitter @nellgluckman, or email her at nell.gluckman@chronicle.com.
