A former cancer researcher at University of Oklahoma Health Science Center has been barred from participating in federally funded research without supervision for three years after the U.S. Office of Research Integrity found he falsified data in grant applications. 

Daniel Andrade committed research misconduct by falsifying data in two grant applications, according to a summary published Feb. 6 on the ORI website and to be published in the Federal Register. The finding is the agency’s first in 2026 and follows just two findings in 2025.

Now a scientist at Cytovance Biologics, according to LinkedIn, Andrade did not return messages seeking comment. ORI also did not get back to us.

A spokesperson for the university told us by email the institution was “aware of ORI’s findings regarding a former faculty member,” and that the university “followed established procedures and communicated with the Office of Research Integrity.” The spokesperson declined to provide further details about the investigation.

The findings resulted from an investigation by the university that was supervised by ORI, which determined Andrade faked data in two grant applications: “Exosomes as Liquid Biopsies: Biomarkers for Tumor Heterogeneity and Subclonal Evolution,” submitted to National Institutes of Health (NIH), on August 20, 2020, and “miRNA signatures that predict chemoradiation response and resistance in cervical cancer using patient-derived organoids and their exosomes,” submitted to NIH and the National Cancer Institute on November 18, 2019.

Specifically, Andrade fabricated exosome nanoparticle tracking analysis  data by relabeling data obtained from a cell line as data derived from cancer patient-derived organoids (PDO) and reporting the relabeled graph to a principal investigator, who included it in one of the grant applications, according to ORI. 

Andrade also manipulated western blot data by splicing together blot image panels from unrelated experiments on different cell lines to depict a composite image of western blot data derived from exosomes of cancer PDOs, according to ORI. In addition, he falsely reported a transmission electron micrograph image was obtained from patient serum when the image was from another source.

The finding letter states that, on December 8, 2024, ORI proposed a three-year supervision period for Andrade and a three-year ban from PHS advisory service. Andrade had the opportunity to request a hearing, but did not contest the actions within the 30-day notice period, according to ORI’s summary.

Andrade is also prohibited from serving in any advisory capacity with the Public Health Service, including peer review committees.

According to Andrade’s LinkedIn profile, he was a postdoc at the university from 2014 to 2017, and an assistant professor of research at the Stephenson Cancer Center at the university from 2018 to 2021. He has been at Cytovance Biologics since 2021.

ORI typically releases about 10 findings a year. Last year’s total of two findings marked the fewest the office has released since at least 2006. According to ORI’s 2024 annual report, released on the last day of 2025, the office received 713 allegations, and closed 119 cases. 

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