BLUE

Kevin Bird

@stairwaytokevin.bsky.social

NSF post doc at UC Davis | genomes & evolution | science & society | opinions mine kevinabird.github.io/

1.8k followers669 following1.3k posts

KBstairwaytokevin.bsky.socialOct 7, 2024 7:08pm

Some interesting details from discovery, like email communications between Pesta and his race science collaborators actively describing what they were doing as "sneaky" and deceptive. One of these collaborators also "went rogue" with an unauthorized personal copy of the protected NIH dataset.

Pesta worked with several individuals to research the correlation between intelligence and ancestry – John Fuerst, Emile Kirkegaard and Jordan Lasker. ECF Doc. 38-3 at 1. Correspondence from Fuerst and Kirkegaard to Pesta suggests that the group was trying to coverup the true reason for accessing the NIH data. ECF Doc. 38-35 and ECF Doc. 38-38. They refer to their data requests as “sneaky” and as “mask[ing] the nature of the study.” Pesta was the only one in this group who could access the TCP data through his association with CSU.

But when CSU attempted to comply with NIH’s directives, it learned that Pesta had stored the data on a personal computer in his home and had allowed Fuerst to improperly access the data. ECF Doc. 38-5 at 6-7. Pesta later admitted that he had been responsible for allowing Fuerst to access the data and that Fuerst had “gone a little bit rogue.” ECF Doc. 38 at 39.
On July 11, 2021, Pesta formally appealed the decision of the NIH, and was represented by counsel during the appeal. On August 17, 2021, the NIH denied his appeal citing the following violations:
1) Researching matters that were not described in Pesta’s Data Access Request;
2) Sharing controlled access data with an unauthorized entity;
3) Failing to provide accurate annual reports; and
4) Fuerst’s refusal to confirm destruction of the TCP data.
The NIH suspended Pesta from accessing the controlled-access data sets for three years, the most
serious sanction ever issued by the NIH. ECF Doc. 38-5 at 20-23.

KBstairwaytokevin.bsky.socialOct 7, 2024 7:11pm

There was also a charitable organization used to collect donations to fund research (or in this case lots of meals, uber rides, and a personal computer) which was not disclosed to the university.

The Human Phenome Diversity Foundation was a private foundation started by Pesta and Fuerst to solicit donations to “support researchers who want to research this area” and “to help [Fuerst] further his education. ECF Doc. 38 at 58. Pesta and Fuerst used funds from this foundation to reimburse themselves for a personal computer,
food they ate while they were working, Uber rides for Fuerst, and (possibly) Fuerst’s tuition. ECF Doc. 38 at 59.

Kevin Bird

@stairwaytokevin.bsky.social

NSF post doc at UC Davis | genomes & evolution | science & society | opinions mine kevinabird.github.io/

1.8k followers669 following1.3k posts