Dive Brief:
- A pre-appointment review of a candidate to lead the epidemiology department at West Virginia University’s School of Public Health in 2012 has expanded into an 18-month investigation and a 91-page report into his apparent academic fraud.
- Anoop Shankar, who left West Virginia University in December 2012 after four months at the school, falsely claimed to have a Ph.D. in epidemiology, and that he graduated from India’s best medical school and was a member of the Royal College of Physicians, NBC News reports. Shankar also forged green card references.
- The 91-page report was written by Ian Rockett, chairman of the promotion and tenure committee for the School of Public Health.
Dive Insight:
Aside from West Virginia University, Shankar’s case has the attention of Monongalia County courts and U.S. Immigration. The university’s Office of Research Integrity uncovered about 30 false publications on Shankar’s resume. Because the university has never addressed the Shankar case publicly, his work since 2012 has been unchallenged, and the so-called "Doogie Howser of India" was hired as an associate professor of family medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. He left that job in August.
