Recent Appointments

Federal Health and Human Services Department Names Research Integrity Head

March 28, 2023 1065

After a two-year vacancy, the United States Office of Research Integrity (ORI), a government agency in the Department of Health and Human Services, has a permanent director. Sheila Garrity, a founding member and the first president of the Association for Research Integrity Officers, will assume the role this week.

The ORI serves as a watchdog for research funded by U.S. Public Health Service agencies like the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration.

According to its website, the agency has a mission to “protect the health and safety of the public, promote the integrity of U.S. Public Health Service-supported research and conserve public funds by ensuring the integrity of all PHS-supported work.”

The role of permanent director has been unoccupied since 2021, when then-director Elizabeth “Lis” Handley left the position to serve as principal deputy assistant secretary for health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health.

Wanda Jones, ORI deputy director and associate director of research and scientific integrity, served as acting director during the role’s vacancy.

Sheila Garrity

As permanent director, Garrity will help guide the agency as it oversees research misconduct investigations and encourages responsible research.

Throughout her career, Garrity has held several research integrity-related roles. She served as associate vice president for research integrity at George Washington University for nearly nine years. In her position, she is responsible for developing policy, conducting informational sessions and creating educational models.

Garrity also worked at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for over 20 years and was director of research integrity when she left the university. Garrity earned masters in business administration and one in public health at Johns Hopkins. She earned a law degree at the University of Maryland School of Law.

“No one objects to the phrase, ‘research integrity,’ Garrity said in a 2014 interview with GW Today. “Nobody wants to conduct sloppy research. It’s much better to partner with our community than to police them.”

The ORI’s appointment of Garrity after years of turnover piqued the interest of Alan Price, who previously served as ORI associate director for investigative oversight.

“Best wishes and many thanks to Dr. Sheila Garrity for accepting the role as new ORI director – and congratulations to HHS for finally selecting, after a decade, a distinguished, highly respected, outside academic, legal and administrative expert in research misconduct policy and conduct and adjudications of misconduct investigations,” Price commented after a Retraction Watch article on the appointment.

In that article, the director of the National Center for Principled Leadership & Research Ethics at the University of Illinois,  C.K. Gunsalus, echoed that sentiment that ‘it’s about time’: It’s been so long since there was [a permanent director] that the agency seems to have lost its momentum and lost its way. I wish her all the best and hope with all her connections and experience she can revitalize an office that has an important role to play. 

Emma Richards is a student at the University of Florida studying public relations. She is the social science communications intern at Sage Publishing.

View all posts by Emma Richards

Related Articles

Revisiting the ‘Research Parasite’ Debate in the Age of AI
International Debate
September 11, 2024

Revisiting the ‘Research Parasite’ Debate in the Age of AI

Read Now
This Anthropology Course Looks at Built Environment From Animal Perspective
Industry
September 10, 2024

This Anthropology Course Looks at Built Environment From Animal Perspective

Read Now
The Public’s Statistics Should Serve, Well, the Public
Industry
August 15, 2024

The Public’s Statistics Should Serve, Well, the Public

Read Now
Where Did We Get the Phrase ‘Publish or Perish’?
Communication
August 14, 2024

Where Did We Get the Phrase ‘Publish or Perish’?

Read Now
Philosophy Has Been – and Should Be – Integral to AI

Philosophy Has Been – and Should Be – Integral to AI

Philosophy has been instrumental to AI since its inception, and should still be an important contributor as artificial intelligence evolves..

Read Now
Stop Buying Cobras: Halting the Rise of Fake Academic Papers

Stop Buying Cobras: Halting the Rise of Fake Academic Papers

It is estimated that all journals, irrespective of discipline, experience a steeply rising number of fake paper submissions. Currently, the rate is about 2 percent. That may sound small. But, given the large and growing amount of scholarly publications it means that a lot of fake papers are published. Each of these can seriously damage patients, society or nature when applied in practice.

Read Now
New SSRC Project Aims to Develop AI Principles for Private Sector

New SSRC Project Aims to Develop AI Principles for Private Sector

The new AI Disclosures Project seeks to create structures that both recognize the commercial enticements of AI while ensuring that issues of safety and equity are front and center in the decisions private actors make about AI deployment.

Read Now
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments