Federal Probe Clears Researcher

A Harvard laboratory researcher, given a one-year suspension last month after a University investigation found he engaged in research fraud, has been cleared of scientific misconduct by a federal government probe.

Dr. Carl E. Fulwiler, a post-doctoral student in the lab of Loeb University Professor Walter Gilbert '53, is charging that the government's report on the allegations of fraud shows that his Harvard suspension is wrong.

The federal Office of Research Integrity, which conducted the government investigation, "found no evidence of misconduct in any of Dr. Fulwiler's laboratory notebooks, grant applications or manuscripts," according to a statement released by Fulwiler this weekend.

"When an objective group looked at all the evidence, they didn't come to the same conclusion Harvard did," Fulwiler said in an interview last night. "And for that reason, I think [the suspension] was unjustified."

Harvard's year-long investigation into the matter reportedly discovered evidence to suggest Fulwiler had engaged in misconduct. The University probe also found that the researcher made inconsistent statements to Harvard investigators, according to Fulwiler.

But in a May 6 letter to Fulwiler, Dr. Lyle Bivens, the director of the Office of Research Integrity, said "his office does not agree with Harvard's conclusion regarding the allegations of misconduct," according to Fulwiler's statement.

Fulwiler was one of about six researchers in Gilbert's lab studying zebrafish as a model for early development of genes. Harvard accused Fulwiler of changing data in his laboratory notebook to make it appear an experiment with the fish's genes had worked better than it actually had.

Gilbert cited the data in the draft of a paper that was reportedly going to be published in the journal Nature, according to lab sources. Sources said a post-doctoral student in Gilbert's lab discovered the alleged error before publication.

Dean of the Faculty Jeremy R. Knowles said last night that he could not discuss the matter.

"It would be improper for me to make any comment whatsoever," Knowles said.

A Lab Torn Apart

Sources have said that the lab of Gilbert, who has not been accused of wrongdoing in the matter, has been torn apart by the Fulwiler case.

The Office of Research Integrity has refused to comment on the case, citing department policy.

The office works to "protect the public money" by imposing financial sanctions on researchers who falsify evidence, according to Dr. Kay Fields '63, a senior scientist there.

Whether or not researchers are found guilty by the office, universities may impose sanctions on them "as long as they are vaguely appropriate," Fields said.

Fulwiler, who has retained the Boston law firm of Perkins, Smith & Cohen, is considering offers for faculty jobs at various Boston-area schools, according to his statement.