Author: Frederik Joelving and Ellie Kincaid

The Pennsylvania State University in May blocked a prominent professor at the school from doing research and making presentations on its behalf, Retraction Watch has learned. 

The professor, Deborah Kelly, has faced mounting scrutiny over her work since a researcher in the United Kingdom noticed apparent data manipulation in a now-retracted article she published in 2017. Kelly earned her third retraction last week following a university probe that found “serious data integrity concerns” in another paper, as we reported at the time. 

In comments she made via her legal counsel for that story, Kelly, a biomedical engineer and an expert in electron microscopy, told us:

Continue reading Penn State barred embattled professor from doing research

A professor of biomedical engineering at the Pennsylvania State University today lost a government-funded study in Science Advances, marking her second retraction. 

The researcher, Deborah Kelly, is also facing retraction of a paper in Current Opinion in Structural Biology after a review undertaken by her institution found “serious data integrity concerns” in the work, according to emails obtained by Retraction Watch. Kelly has hired a lawyer to fight the retraction, apparently without success. (Update on Sept. 12: The paper has now been retracted.)

Today’s retraction of “Structural analysis of BRCA1 reveals modification hotspot” cites “unresolved concerns in the integrity of the data presented,” including what appears to be alterations of cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) maps using an “eraser tool.” The study was funded in part through a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for US$353,386 to Kelly.

In a statement to Retraction Watch sent via her legal counsel, Kelly stood by her work. 

Continue reading Penn State prof earns second retraction, faces third following university probe