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   High-profile researcher admits fabricating scientific results published in   
   major journals   
      
   EXCLUSIVE BY MEDICAL REPORTER SOPHIE SCOTT AND THE NATIONAL REPORTING TEAM'S   
   ALISON BRANLEY   
      
   UPDATED THU 17 SEP 2015, 8:30 AM AEST   
      
      
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   Dr Anna Ahimastos   
   PHOTO Dr Anna Ahimastos has admitted fabricating research in two major   
   journals.   
   SUPPLIED   
      
      
   A high-profile scientist who spearheaded a campaign on medical research has   
   admitted to fabricating research published in two international journals.   
      
   A number of papers written by Dr Anna Ahimastos have been withdrawn from the   
   Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and a journal published by   
   the American Heart Association.   
      
   Dr Ahimastos was working for Melbourne's prestigious Baker IDI Heart and   
   Diabetes Institute at the time.   
      
   She has admitted to making up some of the data in the study, and has resigned.   
      
   The paper looked at whether Ramipril or Prilace, a well-known blood pressure   
   drug, could help people with peripheral artery disease to walk pain free.   
      
   The study had found that after almost six months on the drug, patients could   
   walk without pain for maximum periods of time on a treadmill.   
      
   Two journals, JAMA and Circulation Research, both said the paper was retracted   
   after an internal analysis by Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute "revealed   
   anomalies that triggered an investigation which resulted in an admission of   
   fabricated results    
   by Dr Ahimastos".   
      
   Do you know more about this story? Email investigations@abc.net.au   
   Actions compromised study: Baker   
   Dr Bronwyn Kingwell, from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute, said the   
   organisation took action as soon as the fabrication came to light.   
      
   "Dr Ahimastos admitted to fabricating records for some patients," she said.   
      
   Specifically, Dr Ahimastos made up data about trial participants that did not   
   exist.   
      
   "These actions compromised the overall findings of the study and so we moved   
   quickly to correct the public record by retracting the relevant papers," Dr   
   Kingwell said.   
      
   "The institute does take these matters very seriously and every effort has   
   been made to correct the record and contact all affected parties as quickly as   
   possible."   
      
   She said the main results from the retracted JAMA study had since been   
   corroborated in a small clinical trial.   
      
   Dr Ahimastos is a member of the Australian Society for Medical Research and is   
   involved in science communication.   
      
   She was also named a Tall Poppy -- an Australian Institute of Policy and   
   Science campaign which recognises scientific excellence -- in Victoria in 2010.   
      
   According to Research Gate, Dr Ahimastos is listed as an author on 23   
   publications and the paper in question has been cited 35 times.   
      
   Dr Ahimastos did not respond to the ABC's inquiries.   
      
   Authors apologise, vow to strengthen audit procedures   
   A statement published in the two journals said Dr Ahimastos was solely   
   responsible for data collection and integrity of the study.   
      
   "According to the institute's findings, no co-authors were involved in this   
   misrepresentation," it stated.   
      
   "In addition, no data from the Townsville and Brisbane recruitment centres   
   were included in this publication and data from those centres remains valid."   
      
   The authors of the paper have apologised and the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes   
   Institute has vowed to strengthen its governance and audit procedures to   
   minimise the chance of it happening again.   
      
   'Publish-or-perish' research culture   
   Dr Virginia Barbour, the chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics, said   
   while corrections were fairly common in academic journals, a full retraction   
   of a paper was more rare.   
      
   "If you talk to academics nowadays, there is a real publish-or-perish   
   culture," she said.   
      
   "A study in the UK last year found ... researchers explicitly said the   
   pressure to publish led them to cut corners, which is a pretty alarming   
   finding.   
      
   "We do feel one of the problems is that authors are pressured to publish, and   
   publish in very high journals."   
      
   She said there were cases of substantial misconduct where grants had to be   
   handed back.   
      
   POSTED THU 17 SEP 2015, 6:20 AM AEST   
      
      
   http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-17/high-profile-researcher   
   admits-to-fabricating-scientific-results/6781958   
      
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