Sapan Desai

Sapan Sharankishor Desai (born April 6, 1979) is an American physician, and the owner of Surgisphere, a provider of medical data. The integrity of his research has been questioned, and two papers he co-authored (via data from Surgisphere) were retracted after being published in prominent medical journals.[1]

Sapan S. Desai
Born (1979-04-06) April 6, 1979
Evanston, Illinois
CitizenshipUnited States
Known forSurgisphere
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine

Early life and education

Desai was born and raised in the North Shore (Chicago) region of Illinois by Indian parents. He is a graduate of the Stevenson High School (Lincolnshire, Illinois). Desai attended the University of Illinois at Chicago in biology. He then joined the combined MD/PhD program at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. During this time, he completed his PhD degree in anatomy and cell biology, and MD degree. A 2004 publication from his period in Chicago showed signs of data manipulation (numerous small duplicated regions in the photographs), upon re-examination in June 2020.[2]

He graduated in 2006, then matched to Duke University for residency as a general surgeon.[3][4] In 2008 Desai, still a surgical resident, founded Surgisphere to market medical textbooks, produced by Surgisphere, to medical students. Fake 5-star reviews on Amazon from accounts impersonating actual physicians were found.[5] Desai received his MBA in 2012 from Western Governors University.[6]

Career and controversy

In 2012, Desai became a fellow in vascular surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He published the Journal of Surgical Radiology, which closed in 2013 despite having accrued 50,000 subscribers, because he "ran out of time."[5] As of 2015, Desai was a vascular surgeon at Southern Illinois University in charge of surgical simulation as vice chair of research.[7] In February 2020, Desai resigned from Northwest Community Hospital in suburban Arlington Heights, Illinois "for family reasons"; three medical malpractice suits had been filed against him.[5]

On June 4, 2020 Desai joined his four coauthors in retracting a paper from the New England Journal of Medicine.[8] The next day the three coauthors of another paper, published in The Lancet, retracted it, without Desai joining them in the retraction.[9] Dr. Richard Horton, editor in chief of The Lancet, called the paper a fabrication and "a monumental fraud". Dr. Eric Rubin, editor in chief of NEJM, said "We shouldn’t have published this".[10]

Subsequently, Elisabeth Bik analyzed one of Desai's early first author papers and found evidence of apparent image manipulation.[2][11]

References
  1. Aldhous, Peter; Lee, Stephanie M. (6 June 2020). "Scientists Are Questioning Past Research By The Founder of Surgisphere". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  2. Elisabeth Bik (2020-06-06). "The Surgisphere Founder and the Melba Toast figure". Science Integrity Digest. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  3. "Alumni". Chicago Medicine. Retrieved 6 June 2020. Sapan Desai (2006) PhD: Anatomy & Cell Biology ; Thesis Advisor: Anna Lysakowski, PhD Residency: General Surgery, Duke University
  4. "COM Chicago Match Results". Chicago Medicine. Retrieved 6 June 2020. Sapan Desai DUKE UNIV MED CTR-NC GENERAL SURGERY DURHAM NC
  5. Catherine Offord (2020-05-30). "Disputed Hydroxychloroquine Study Brings Scrutiny to Surgisphere". The Scientist Magazine®. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  6. "Online MBA Graduate Sapan Desai, MD, Ph.D. - A WGU Success Story". YouTube. Western Governors University. 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  7. Roberta Bernstein (25 September 2015). "Medical Scientist MD-PHD UIC newsletter vol 16 issue 1" (PDF). chicago.medicine.uic.edu. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. Mehra, Mandeep R.; Desai, Sapan S.; Kuy, SreyRam; Henry, Timothy D.; Patel, Amit N. (4 June 2020). "Retraction: Cardiovascular Disease, Drug Therapy, and Mortality in Covid-19. N Engl J Med. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2007621". New England Journal of Medicine. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  9. Mehra, Mandeep R; Ruschitzka, Frank; Patel, Amit N (5 June 2020). "Retraction—Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis". The Lancet. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  10. Roni Caryn Rabin (14 June 2020). "The Pandemic Claims New Victims: Prestigious Medical Journals". nytimes.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  11. Davey, Melissa; Kirchgaessner, Stephanie (2020-06-10). "Surgisphere: mass audit of papers linked to firm behind hydroxychloroquine Lancet study scandal". the Guardian. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
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