Scientist due in court in faked AIDS research case
7/1/2014DES MOINES, Iowa — A former Iowa State University researcher is expected to appear in court today to face charges that he falsified data to make a developmental AIDS vaccine appear promising.
Dong-Pyou Han is scheduled to be arraigned at the federal courthouse in Des Moines on an indictment charging him with making false statements.
Authorities say Han has confessed that he spiked samples of rabbit blood with human proteins to make it appear that the vaccine was working.
Han’s actions raised hopes of a breakthrough in the scientific community. But the alleged misconduct was uncovered last year after scientists at Harvard University discovered the spiked samples.
Han was scheduled to appear in court last week but he did not show up. Officials learned later that he had been hospitalized after a traffic accident.