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on Sep 9th, 2016 and filed under U. of Colorado Rescinds Pharmaceutical Researcher’s Ph.D. Over Falsified Data – Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription) (blog)
A researcher and former doctoral student at the University of Colorado’s pharmacy school has lost his Ph.D. after an investigation revealed that his work had been substantially falsified, The Denver Post reported. The university recommended 10 of Rajendra Kadam’s papers for retraction after investigators found 22 fabrications in his doctoral thesis alone.
Mr. Kadam admitted to falsifying the data, according to a university report. That led the university’s Board of Regents to take what Ken McConnellogue, a spokesman for the university system, called the “exceedingly rare” step of revoking Mr. Kadam’s Ph.D., which was awarded in 2013.
“It is critical to protect the integrity of our research operation, and that’s why this action was necessary,” he said.
Investigations into Mr. Kadam’s work, which dealt largely with drug delivery to the eyes, began shortly after his findings raised suspicion among his colleagues. The university did not find that anyone other than Mr. Kadam had knowingly allowed any falsification to occur, but the report did raise questions about the quality of supervision and oversight in the lab.
Mr. McConnellogue said the university had reviewed its practices to prevent similar incidents in the future.
