New documents discuss Penn, federal investigation of former Penn professor's research misconduct

New documents provide additional insight into a federal investigation that concluded a former Perelman School of Medicine professor engaged in research misconduct.

In July 2023, The Office of Research Integrity, a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services, found that William Armstead — a 1979 Penn graduate and former associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care — misinterpreted the results of his research across a variety of materials. Armstead experimented on piglets to test possible treatments for traumatic brain injury in humans. 

The new documents, consisting of 131 pages of internal documents and emails detailing how the case unfolded, were acquired by the Philadelphia Inquirer through a Freedom of Information Act request. The documents include Penn's internal investigation report, in which investigation committee members described Armstead as "reckless."

The records also detail the $1.7 million sum Penn paid the government as compensation for the federal grant funds that Armstead had used in his research, a University spokesperson told the Inquirer.

A Penn Med spokesperson and Armstead’s lawyer, Sidney Gold, did not respond to a request for comment.

The investigation into Armstead’s research misconduct began following the submission of a manuscript on the use of phenylephrine to treat brain injury in newborn pigs. 

Soon after, an anonymous tip in February 2019 alerted Penn Med of concerns on the authenticity of the research, as much of the data appeared to be copied from several old papers authored by Armstead. This led to the formation of a preliminary inquiry that quickly evolved into a formal investigation committee — which was approved by then — Penn Med dean Larry Jameson.

Armstead’s case lasted nearly four years. The investigations were led by Penn and the Office of Research Integrity, a federal agency within the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

Across ten meetings held between February 2020 and July 2021, the committee found that Armstead falsified images and methods without credible supporting data.

“There was a blatant disregard for scientific record-keeping, such that published data could not be reproduced due to the vast absence of the original data,” the report said.

Similarly, the ORI found that Armstead intentionally fabricated 51 data figures across a collection of publications, posters, and grant applications. 

Armstead left his job at Penn in the middle of the 2021-2022 academic year around the time when the investigation was ending. In a settlement with the ORI in July 2023, Armstead also agreed to a seven-year ban on federally funded research.

Currently, four of Armstead’s publications corresponding to the fabricated research have been retracted, with a fifth in the process of being retracted. The original manuscript that was a catalyst for this investigation was also retracted by Armstead.