Related Federal Cases
- Ex-Rep DeWeese Gets Probation for Fraudulent Healthcare Claims · Michigan
- First National Bank of Lindsay, Bank Failure, Oklahoma, 2023 · Oklahoma
- Marlene Barkheimer, FDIC Advisory Committee Appointment, Washington… · Louisiana
- FDIC ComE-IN Panel No Defendant Found, Washington DC, Not Applicable · California
- Letitia James Urges Senate to Reject SAVE America Act, New York NY,… · California
VARI Pays $1.1M to Resolve Faked NIH Grant Claims
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
The Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) has agreed to pay $1.1 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to disclose a foreign component of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) award and by failing to disclose foreign research support for two VARI researchers who served as principal investigators on NIH awards.
In addition to this settlement, the NIH imposed Specific Award Conditions on all of VARI’s NIH grants, including by requiring personal, executive-level certifications to the accuracy of NIH submissions, withdrawing certain of VARI’s expanded grant authorities, and removing all of VARI’s NIH grants from the Streamlined Non-Competing Award Process (SNAP).
“Full disclosure is essential not only in validating scientific research, but also in the intense competition for scientific funding from the federal government,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said. “NIH’s application process is intended to yield information that is critical to the agency’s responsible stewardship of billions of taxpayer dollars. My office will continue to use every available tool to preserve the integrity of that process. The research community should recognize that these cases are not going away.”
The government alleges that in 2017, a VARI researcher began negotiating a research collaboration agreement with the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) in China that overlapped with an NIH grant in research objectives and methods. VARI administrators allegedly did not disclose this foreign component to NIH, despite being required to do so.
The case is a follow-up to a 2019 settlement in which VARI paid $5.5 million to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to disclose Other Support, including Chinese government grants that funded two VARI researchers. The recent settlement is the second in two years involving allegations of undisclosed foreign influence in federally-sponsored research.
NIH requires grant recipients to disclose and obtain prior agency approval if a significant scientific element or segment of an NIH-funded project will be performed outside of the United States (a “Foreign Component”). Foreign Components can include collaborations with foreign researchers who perform experiments in support of an NIH grant, regardless of whether those foreign researchers receive any of the NIH funding.
The NIH also requires grant recipients to disclose “Other Support,” defined as all resources made available to researchers in support of and/or related to all of their research endeavors, regardless of whether such resources have monetary value. Other Support includes high-value materials that are not freely available (biologics, e.g.) and selection to foreign talent recruitment programs.
Key Facts
- State: Michigan
- Category: Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
