Philly-area scientist admitted to misconduct after working at Nemours for more than 15 years

A Philadelphia-area researcher’s work investigating a dangerous complication of cardiovascular procedures helped to reveal key details of how it may occur, and pointed to potential ways to intervene.

But some of those findings, published in a 2021 scientific article, appear to have been tainted by misconduct. In a highly unusual confession, the coauthor, then based at Nemours Children’s Health, has admitted to manipulating data.

According to Nemours, Valerie Sampson left the institution in January 2022 and subsequently disclosed that she had falsified data.

Nemours launched an investigation into her work, and alerted the scientific journals that had published potentially problematic data. As a result, two of Sampson’s research papers have been retracted.

Scientific misconduct is rare — with roughly one case for every 10,000 researchers each year, according to estimates from the U.S. Office of Research Integrity — and it’s even more rare for those who perpetrate it to come forward.

That said, the process of handling scientific misconduct is often shrouded in secrecy, so it’s hard to know how often scientists openly admit to misconduct, said Ivan Oransky, cofounder of Retraction Watch, which tracks retractions and scientific misconduct, and first reported the investigation into Sampson. “For all we know it happens more often. But it’s certainly not a common occurrence.”

Oransky added that while he doesn’t condone misconduct, he appreciates that Sampson made the decision to come clean.

“We all make mistakes,” he said. “It speaks better of her that she self-identified what happened than if she had pretended it didn’t happen.”

Sampson did not respond to repeated requests for comment relayed through emails and a phone number associated with her name, as well as a letter left at the Wilmington, Del. address listed as her latest residence.

According to Sampson’s LinkedIn profile, she worked as a research scientist at Nemours between August 2005 and January 2022, then at a Philadelphia-based biotech from July 2022 to December 2023. Her research often focused on cancer.

Sampson “self-disclosed that she falsified data” after she left the institution, Nemours said in a statement.

“We immediately launched a thorough investigation into her work while at Nemours Children’s, including a review of all other publications by Dr. Sampson,” spokesperson Shelley Meadowcroft said. “We have alerted journals regarding articles authored by her for which we identified potential concerns, and those journals are proceeding with their investigations.”

She said that Sampson’s case is now under review at the Office of Research Integrity, and Nemours “cannot provide more detail given [ORI’s] review process.”

PubMed, a database of published biomedical research articles, lists 17 papers that include Sampson as a coauthor.

In one retracted paper, published in 2016 in the journal Oncotarget, Sampson and her colleagues tested a cancer drug against the cells of the bone cancer osteosarcoma.

The retraction notice states that there was “incorrect reporting of data” in seven figures of the paper, and includes a statement from Sampson.

“I take sole responsibility for the errors and the incorrect reporting of data. These actions were unknown to all coauthors of this study,” she writes, noting she apologizes to “anyone who is impacted by my actions.”

The retracted 2021 paper, published in the journal JVS-Vascular Science, now includes a note saying that Sampson “contacted the journal and admitted to manipulating samples and incorrectly reporting of data.”

Again, Sampson took full responsibility for what happened. “The other authors were unaware of the misconduct until notified by [Sampson],” the notice states.

After Sampson left Nemours, she worked as a scientist at WuXi Advanced Therapies, one of the biggest biotech employers in Philadelphia.

WuXi helps manufacture other companies’ cell and gene therapies on a large scale, in order to bring costs down. Earlier this year, WuXi came under fire when U.S. Congress flagged it as a security threat, citing alleged ties to the Chinese military.

When asked whether any of the work Sampson conducted at WuXi may be affected by misconduct, a WuXi spokesperson said: “As a matter of company policy, we do not comment on personnel matters.”

According to Sampson’s LinkedIn profile, she is currently unemployed.