Case Study in Research Integrity – Banned From Supervising, Can’t Go in Lab, but No Impact on NIH Funded Research?

We have seen rising numbers of allegations related to harassment, discrimination, and hostile work environments since 2018 (when we first started tracking them). In many cases, we successfully work with recipient institutions to put appropriate measures in place to address unsafe working environments. These measures may include removing the principal investigator (PI) from the award or putting additional oversight measures in place. However, too often we hear from institutions that a PI has violated the institution’s policies and is no longer permitted to supervise students or staff, but there will be “no impact on NIH-funded work.” We have a problem with this response. How can the NIH-funded work not be impacted if the PI has been found not suitable to supervise others? This situation causes us to worry not only about the safety of the lab environment, but also about the message that this behavior sends to the entire institution. We must ensure that NIH-funded research is being conducted in a safe and respectful environment conducive to high quality research. Let’s look further. The example presented here is based on true experiences, with all identifiable information changed or removed. Please also keep in mind that in general NIH makes awards to institutions. Our engagement is focused on institutions, who in turn employ researchers designated on NIH awards. A lab technician in Dr. Jones’ lab was working, what seemed to be, excessively long hours with ver...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - Category: Research Authors: Tags: blog Open Mike case study harassment Research integrity Source Type: funding