NIH Suspended Duke University Grants Amid Misconduct Allegations

The accusations concerned the safety of research participants. The school says the grants have been reinstated following an investigation.

Written byJef Akst

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Concerns over the safety and welfare of research participants led the US National Institutes of Health to suspend seven grants awarded to researchers in Duke University’s department of psychiatry last year, according to a March 2018 letter from the NIH to the North Carolina–based university that was obtained by Medscape Medical News.

The document refers to a previous letter, dated December 15, 2017, sent from Duke to NIH, notifying the federal agency of “allegations of research misconduct against several investigators in the Duke Department of Psychiatry and . . . potential issues concerning clinical research irregularities,” according to the March 2018 letter from the NIH to Duke. The March 2018 letter also mentions a phone call between the university and the agency that took place in February 2018, during which Duke expressed concerns about how to proceed with the NIH awards in the face of the misconduct ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
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Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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