Peer reviewers identifying discrepancies in his data have accused Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi, a former Weill Cornell Medicine dean and current professor, of manipulating the results of research experiments on animals.
Now, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is calling for the federal government to ban him from performing future experiments on animals.
Since 2002, nine studies authored by Choi have been retracted, and one study was withdrawn from published research journals. PETA provided The Sun with a list of each retracted article.
Each journal retracted Choi’s work after finding duplicate images representing data from Choi’s previous experiments, spliced images or copied images from other publications. At least four other articles have been corrected due to inconsistent data, according to PETA.
Most of Choi’s allegedly manipulated research tested if exposure to carbon monoxide could reduce the impacts of sepsis — a life-threatening reaction to an infection — on lung functions. Choi used mice for these experiments, but PETA is concerned that allegedly false mouse data may lead to trials on human participants that are not adequately justified, according to Katherine Roe, chief scientist in PETA’s Laboratory Investigations Department.
Medical professionals have also debated whether mice’s responses translate to those of humans in sepsis studies specifically, due to humans’ vastly different immune systems.
“That is probably why all of our attempts to find a treatment from humans based on mouse data have failed,” Roe said. “So [allegedly], [Choi’s] animals were put through cecal ligation, exposure to cigarette smoke, exposure to infectious diseases and death … for what?”
PETA believes Choi’s experiments on mice are not only ineffective but painful and traumatizing to the rodents involved, so the animal rights nonprofit is working toward preventing Choi from conducting further experiments.
PETA aims to ensure that potentially false data is not used as a foundation for human trials.
“We’re writing to the Office for Human Research Protections, because hopefully they can look into [Choi’s allegations] and make sure that anybody who is registering for his clinical trial is safe and has the [most accurate] information about the preclinical work on this so they can give informed consent,” Roe said.
The OHRP is the United States Department of Health and Human Services office responsible for protecting the rights and well-being of human participants in research studies. It responds to reports of misconduct by conducting investigations to ensure researchers are performing experiments in line with federal policies.
Within Choi’s pre-clinical work and related studies, the majority of flagged images included western blots — a technique used to identify specific proteins in tissues — which Choi used to describe his findings. Different animals or experimental conditions corresponded to the same blots in many cases within papers, and some blots were labeled as new data despite appearing to have been copied from previous papers.
The retracted articles are not Choi’s only papers to have been flagged for alleged falsified western blots. Image sleuths — individuals and scientific peers who inspect research publications for image manipulations — flagged numerous articles by Choi that have not been retracted for potential western blot manipulation.
Many of these peers commented on such articles on PubPeer, an online research journal forum. One peer with the username Penicillium citreoviride claimed that two images in a 2013 Choi paper displayed the same object but were zoomed and manipulated to appear as two different photos.
Penicillium citreoviride utilized ImageTwin, an artificial intelligence software that detects potential image duplication, according to their comment. The user attached a disclaimer stating the algorithm can sometimes generate false positive results.
Image sleuths identified key attributes of the blots, such as shape, to determine whether or not the pictures were duplicates. Western blot manipulation is a more common practice in research than one would think, according to Roe. Other papers, such as this 2010 study, have been retracted for this reason.
“Unfortunately, getting publications is how you get tenure, fame [and] more grant money,” Roe said. “And apparently, there’s an alarming number of people who are willing to manipulate their images, mislead scientists and harm animals and potentially patients all for just getting that next grant [and] career advancement.”
Choi’s retractions have occurred periodically over the past decade, with one paper retracted and republished in 2015 and another study retracted in 2020. The 2020 study was alleged to have contained identical data to previously published work that generated different results, according to concerns from the American Physiological Society.
This prompted Cornell to conduct an investigation in 2020 that analyzed both publications and lab practices. It found Choi did not commit research misconduct.
When asked about this and the steps the University would take should Choi’s new allegations be true, Dr. Robert Harrington, dean of Weill Cornell Medicine, declined to comment and relayed the message to Joel Malina, vice president for University relations.
“The [investigation] report made recommendations for retraction of several papers because certain figures were not reliable, and, given the absence of original data, the scientific record could not be corrected,” Malina wrote in an email statement to The Sun. “Retraction is consistent with academic norms in such circumstances.”
Since the investigation, seven more of Choi’s articles have been removed due to data discrepancies, according to PETA’s records. Malina declined to comment on any new allegations Choi has received.
PETA is urging the HHS Office of Research Integrity to investigate the alleged misconduct.
“From what I understand, the University-based investigations aren’t necessarily as rigorous as what the Office of Research Integrity within the [National Institutes of Health] will do,” Roe said. “That’s why we’re writing to them and not Cornell, because Cornell has already looked and said, ‘Nothing to see here.’”
In 2021, PETA filed a lawsuit against the NIH, which has to date provided Choi with nearly $77 million in taxpayer money to fund his research despite retractions. They are urging the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare within the NIH to cease funding and ban Choi from performing further deadly sepsis experiments on animals.
Choi’s case is not the only recent instance of data falsification allegations among accredited medical research institutions. Five experimenters at Harvard Medical School have been accused of falsifying data and plagiarizing images since the start of 2024.
PETA has previously called on HHS to impose stricter penalties against experimenters for misconduct involving animal research because of these other instances of top research institutions being accused of falsifying data.
Choi did not respond to a request for comment on his research misconduct allegations.
The Cornell Office of Research Integrity and Assurance provides guidance on conducting responsible and honest research. Its Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee enforces that Cornell researchers treat live animals in a legal manner and with the highest standard of care.
ORIA declined to comment on Choi’s alleged actions and the potential penalties for research misconduct due to privacy reasons.
“Pursuant to federal regulations and University policy, except as otherwise expressly prescribed by law, the disclosure of information attendant to inquiries or investigations are limited to those associated with the process who have a need to know,” said Mark Hurwitz, research integrity officer and chief research compliance officer for ORIA.
If the Office for Human Research Protections investigates Choi’s alleged research misconduct as PETA has requested and finds the allegations to be true, he could face harsh repercussions.
Falsification, fabrication and plagiarism in federally-funded research can bring federal criminal charges coupled with penalties including fines, bans from government funding and even imprisonment.
While Roe noted Choi’s allegations are not yet confirmed to be true, she hopes to continue spreading awareness about the prevalence of falsified research in her role at PETA regardless.
“Some of these papers that are getting called out are 20 years old and have been cited hundreds, if not thousands of times by other scientists,” Roe said. “The problem [of falsified research] has existed for a long time. I think the awareness of the problem is what’s more recent, and I think the consequences of the problem are yet to come, at least for the investigators themselves.”
Correction, March 22, 12:15 p.m.: The photo caption in a previous version of this article referred to Dr. Augustine M.K. Choi as a current dean and provost, when he formerly was a dean and provost. The Sun regrets this error, and the article has been corrected.