The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) congratulates Dr. Karen Wehner for her selection as the Scientific Integrity Officer for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Wehner has served as the Director of the Division of Education and Integrity at ORI since March 2020. On August 12, she will join the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) Office of Science and Data Policy (SDP) in her new role. 

Dr. Wehner played an integral role in growing ORI’s compliance program, developed numerous multimedia resources on the responsible conduct of research, launched ORI’s YouTube channel, organized several conferences for the research integrity community, and provided technical assistance to hundreds of institutions. She was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the development of the first new ORI regulation in nearly two decades, including drafting the 2022 Request for Information (RFI) calling for perspectives from individuals, research funding agencies, institutional officials, organizations, institutions, and other members of the general public on the 2005 Public Health Service Policies on Research Misconduct, 42 C.F.R. Part 93 to help inform the ORI’s plans to revise the regulation. Dr. Wehner then spent the greater part of a year working with Drs. Wanda Jones and Alex Runko drafting the Notice of Proposed Regulation (NPRM), released in late 2023. 

ORI staff and colleagues across the research community wish Karen the best in her new role advancing scientific integrity across HHS. 

LaToya Lewis, Compliance Officer at ORI, will serve as Interim Director of the Division of Education and Integrity.