Two professors and a research scientist who work for the University of Kentucky College of Medicine were responsible for research misconduct, the university has concluded.

An internal investigation lasting more than a year focused on the use of falsified and fabricated data.

UK found significant problems with the employees' cancer research, which was funded by federal grants. It wants to retract several of their scholarly publications, according to a Friday news release from the university.

The employees are: Xianglin Shi, a professor in the Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology who has already been removed from his role as associate dean for research integration in UK's College of Medicine; Zhuo Zhang, who is also a professor in the Department of Toxicology and Cancer Biology; and Donghern Kim, a research scientist in the same department.

"Our research must be conducted in an ethical and responsible manner," UK's provost, David Blackwell, and its vice president for research, Lisa Cassis, said in a joint statement. "In the rare instances when researchers violate our expectations and standards, the University will act forcefully and without hesitation to investigate the misconduct, correct it, and take steps to prevent recurrence."

The university plans to begin a process to fire Shi and Zhang, unless they agree to resign, and it already fired Kim, the news release said.

FBI:Kentucky man threatened to turn VA hospital into 'another El Paso'

Shi and Zhang's faculty labs were shut down Thursday, and Shi, Zhang and Kim aren't allowed to contact members of the UK community without approval from the university's legal office.

Their ability to come onto the campus has been restricted, too.

Closing the two labs has resulted in the elimination of five other staff members' jobs because those positions are supported by research grants that have to be terminated, according to UK. The school plans to provide the employees who are losing their jobs with severance packages and other assistance.

"They weren't culpable, didn't do anything wrong, but the funding for their positions is no longer there," UK spokesman Jay Blanton said.

Shi also served as the principal investigator and program director for a grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences that was used to establish the UK Center for Appalachian Research in Environmental Sciences. UK already named an interim director for that initiative.

Shi, Zhang and Kim could not immediately be reached Friday morning for comment.

In the past 10 years, UK pursued termination proceedings for a faculty member over research misconduct in only one other case, according to Blanton. That instance involved Eric J. Smart, who worked in UK's pediatrics department and resigned in 2012.

Shi, Zhang and Kim's research was related to metal toxicity and cancer, Blanton said. Kim joined the university in 2011, while Shi and Zhang, who are married, have worked there for more than a decade.

More news:Rocky Adkins considering a bid for Mitch McConnell's Senate seat

A team of UK scientists conducted the internal investigation into the trio's research after a source outside the university alerted UK about the potential misconduct, according to the news release. Their findings were given Thursday to the federal Office of Research Integrity. Other government agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, also will be notified.

"The investigation committee produced a more than 1,000-page report that demonstrated several examples of falsified or fabricated data that were among numerous irregularities in seven grant proposals and at least 13 scholarly papers sampled from their work," according to UK's news release.

The dean of UK's College of Medicine, Robert DiPaola, co-authored a paper with Shi, Zhang and Kim that will be retracted, according to UK. DiPaola recused himself from the investigative process, and the committee determined he wasn't responsible for the direct oversight of that paper's research.

The committee reviewed grant proposals submitted to the NIH and various manuscripts published by Shi, Zhang and Kim in recent years. It ultimately detected "nine distinct classes of significant departures from accepted practices of research," the news release said, and found instances of an "intentional effort to deceive" as well as of "careless and reckless handling of experimental data."

Check out:The founding family you’ve never heard of: The black Tuckers of Hampton

"A lack of organization and oversight in the research allowed for unsupported falsified and fabricated data to be presented in grants and publications," according to UK. "In two instances, the committee found that one or more of the respondents generated and provided falsified and fabricated documents to the committee to justify their responses to committee inquiries."

In an email to the campus community, Blackwell and Cassis of UK announced that Shi and Zhang have been informed that the process to terminate their employment will begin unless they resign, "given the seriousness of these findings."

"This matter involves a serious breach of ethics, fundamental to who we are as members of an academic community," Blackwell and Chassis said in their email.

UK's board of trustees would have the final authority to decide whether to accept any recommendation it receives to dismiss the two faculty members.

Morgan Watkins: 502-582-4502; mwatkins@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @morganwatkins26. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/morganw.