The U.S. Office of Research Integrity, which oversees investigations into allegations of misconduct in grants from the NIH, is once again without a permanent director.
Elisabeth (Lis) Handley, who became director in 2019, has taken on a new role in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), of which ORI is a part. Wanda Jones, who has served as interim and deputy director of the agency, will serve as acting director, according to an HHS spokesperson.
Handley has become principal deputy assistant secretary for health. In a memo to staff, assistant secretary for health Rachel Levine wrote:
In this role, she shares responsibility with the Assistant Secretary for Health and the OASH Chief of Staff, for planning, coordinating, and directing substantive program matters; policy and program development; and determining and setting legislative and program priorities covering the full range of public health activities within the OASH to help lead Americans to healthier lives.
Prior to Handley, Kathy Partin was the ORI’s last permanent director, beginning in 2015. She left in late 2017 and is now the intramural research integrity officer at the NIH.
The ORI has announced just one finding of misconduct through the first five months of 2021, which would appear to be well shy of its typical pace of about a dozen such findings per year. Asked about the apparent drop, an HHS spokesperson told Retraction Watch:
ORI continues to conduct its’ oversight review of institutional research misconduct proceedings, while facing the same challenges as institutions while working remotely during the pandemic.
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