Cancer researcher admitted faking data

A former researcher at Nemours Children’s Health in Wilmington, Del., admitted to falsifying and incorrectly reporting data in at least two published studies, both of which were supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health. The studies have been retracted.

The researcher, Valerie Sampson, reported herself to Nemours, which launched an inquiry into all of her publications, according to a hospital spokesperson. The institution’s findings are under review at the U.S. Office of Research Integrity.

Sampson left Nemours in January 2022 after 16 years with the hospital, according to her LinkedIn profile. She also held a position as an affiliated scientist at the University of Delaware, a role that ended in the same month, per the profile. Six months following her departure from Nemours, Sampson took a position as a scientist at WuXi Advanced Therapies in Philadelphia, a company specializing in cell and gene therapies, for a little over a year. She is currently unemployed, according to the profile. 

None of her papers seem to have been flagged on PubPeer, besides comments sharing the text of the retraction notices. 

Sampson describes herself as a “Meticulous and analytical Researcher” with more than 15 years of experience in “cancer research, Research Compliance and Safety.” We tried to reach Sampson on LinkedIn and at an email address listed in an online directory but got no response. Her institutional email is no longer active. 

One of the retracted papers, “Neointimal hyperplasia after carotid transection and anastomosis surgery is associated with degradation of decorin and platelet-derived growth factor signaling,” appeared in JVS-Vascular Science in 2020. 

According to the retraction notice posted in October, Sampson contacted the journal and “admitted to manipulating samples and incorrectly reporting of data [sic]” to produce “the desired result.” Her co-authors were unaware of her actions, according to the notice. 

The other retracted paper, “Integrating mechanisms of response and resistance against the tubulin binding agent Eribulin in preclinical models of osteosarcoma,” appeared in Oncotarget in 2016. It was cited 19 times before it was retracted in October, according to Clarivate’s Web of Science. 

According to the retraction notice, Sampson “confirmed there was incorrect reporting of data” for seven figures in the paper, including polymerase chain reaction experiments without template controls. The notice also included a statement attributed to Sampson in which she accepted “sole responsibility for the errors and the incorrect reporting of data.”

Kathryn Skeen, a media representative from Nemours, told Retraction Watch Sampson had “self-disclosed” her misconduct to the institution. Following the admission, Nemours launched an investigation into all of Sampson’s published work. During the review, Nemours identified “potential concerns” in several other papers where Sampson is listed as an author, Skeen told us. The institution then notified the journals involved, and those journals have initiated their own investigations into the validity of the research, she said. 

Skeen declined to share the details about Nemours’ internal investigation, writing that ORI is reviewing the case.

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