Chapter 285 - 190: The Teachers Are Too Ruthless

Chapter 285: Chapter 190: The Teachers Are Too Ruthless

The reason Wang Qian did this

wasn’t just his greed for the research findings.

At Hopkins, he had gotten to his current position mainly by being a sycophant.

To put it bluntly, he was nothing more than a gun in Professor Miller’s hand.

Miller, deep down, didn’t believe that the Chinese from across the Pacific Ocean were capable of producing results of this caliber.

In his arrogant mind, China’s academic circles were often associated with padded data and fabrication.

How could a team from Southern Medical University, a name he’d never even heard of, produce a perfect model with an AUC as high as 0.915?

—’Could it be that the Chinese stole unpublished data from another country?’

But he would never say such a heavily biased thing out loud himself.

So, when the review email from the NEJM arrived, Miller specifically called Wang Qian to his office.

All he had to do was sigh at the paper.

Wang Qian understood instantly.

Miller wanted the model, but he didn’t want to get his own hands dirty.

So Wang Qian, using his own words, took the fall.

Two people, one a hypocrite, the other venomous. A match made in hell.

According to their calculations, rejecting and returning the manuscript would buy them at least one to two months.

In that window of time, the entire lab would work in two shifts, using Jiang He’s formula to run a completely new set of data.

Once the paper was published, it would be a done deal.

Who could accuse them of plagiarism?

Medical papers rely on experimental data. As long as they stubbornly insisted that their lab had discovered it independently and it was just a coincidence, no one could do anything to them.

After all, the golden reputation of Hopkins carried its own inherent credibility.

But there was no way Wang Qian and Miller could have imagined it.

Standing behind Jiang He were four teachers.

And these four were absolute savages.

...

「Affiliated Hospital No. 1, Vice Dean’s Office.」

Zhang Sui had just used the connections he’d built during his PhD at Johns Hopkins to investigate the Miller Laboratory’s recent activities and had relayed the information to the other three teachers.

The key point was, when that asshole Wang Qian’s name came up, Zhang Sui suddenly felt like it all made sense.

Every injustice has a perpetrator, every debt a debtor.

’Since you’re the one pulling the strings, Wang Qian, then this familiar formula is no surprise.’

Zhang Sui knew him too well. Back then, Wang Qian had stolen his paper just to stay in the United States. Now, to seize an international standard, he would naturally have no qualms about stealing the work Jiang He poured his heart and soul into.

’Time to settle old scores and new.’

’You came after my benefactor. I’ll risk everything to take you down.’

A friend at Hopkins told him that Wang Qian was currently exploiting an Asian PhD student named Zou Ji.

This young man did almost all the dirty work in the lab. Not only did he have to ghostwrite papers for Wang Qian, but he was also stripped of his first-author credits.

He was even forced by Wang Qian to commit academic fraud in some data processing to cater to the journals’ preferences.

After finding a way to get his contact information, he made an international call directly.

A tired male voice answered on the other end, "Hello?"

"Zou Ji, this is Zhang Sui, Vice Dean of the Southern Medical University First Affiliated Hospital."

"Professor Zhang, hello!"

Zou Ji clearly already knew Professor Zhang would be calling him, so he didn’t seem surprised.

"Yes. Zou Ji, I’ve heard that you’re studying under Wang Qian. But the papers you stay up all night writing end up with his name as the first author? And he forces you to remove and embellish data that doesn’t fit the expected trend?"

"He’s holding the power to sign off on my graduation over my head, Professor. I have no choice... My family is supporting me through my PhD. I can’t fail to get my degree."

"I understand. Now, I’m giving you a choice. Save everything on your computer: the original and modified versions of the data Wang Qian forced you to alter, the comparison records, and all related emails."

Zou Ji was startled. "Are you asking me to..."

"As long as you save the evidence and wait for my command to report him to the Johns Hopkins University academic ethics committee, I will guarantee that you graduate smoothly. After you get your degree, would you prefer to return to China to develop your career, or...?"

"I want to return to China. I don’t want to stay here anymore."

"Good. When you return to China, come find me directly at Affiliated Hospital No. 1."

Zou Ji hesitated.

’This is risky, after all. Should I do it or not?’

As he hesitated, the image of Wang Qian’s arrogant face from that afternoon flashed through his mind—

"Without my name, Wang Qian, on it, what journal do you think would even look at a paper from an unknown PhD student like you?"

The humiliation, the resentment, the long-suppressed frustration.

Faced with the opportunity Zhang Sui had offered, it all finally erupted.

"Dean Zhang!"

He even changed how he addressed him.

"I’ll go back up the data right now. Wait for my call!"

...

「At the same time.」

Gu Qingyan also started making calls to rally support.

As a big shot in the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, Gu Qingyan had the phone number of Geoffrey, the current editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine.

"Geoffrey, it’s Gu Qingyan."

"Oh, Gu! It’s so good to hear your voice. How are the preparations for this year’s conference in Europe coming along?"

"They’re coming along."

After some pleasantries,

Gu Qingyan said:

"Geoffrey, actually, there is something I need your help with. I want you to immediately pull up a paper from your system that was rejected yesterday. The submission number is NEJM-08-4112. It’s about an early prediction model for severe acute pancreatitis."

Geoffrey paused on the other end of the line.

A moment later, he said, "I see it, Gu. The reviewer comments for this manuscript are very clear. There are issues with unclear data ethics and racial bias. According to our procedures, we advised the author to revise and..."

"Geoffrey, we’re peers. Don’t give me the same script you use on ordinary authors. Back when the ARDSNet low tidal volume ventilation trial was conducted, the controversy over the initial cohort data was far greater than this, and the NEJM still gave it plenty of space."

Geoffrey fell silent.

Gu Qingyan continued to apply pressure:

"There’s nothing wrong with a rejection with a request for revision, and that’s not why I’m calling you. The main point is, according to my intelligence, the Miller Laboratory at Johns Hopkins is currently running data using an extremely similar logical framework. And Miller was the reviewer for this manuscript, wasn’t he?"

The breathing on the other end of the line stopped.

This was a very high-level accusation in the academic world.

A reviewer using their authority to suppress a manuscript and steal its ideas—this was an absolutely intolerable scandal.

"Gu, this is just your accusation. It lacks solid evidence. I can’t overturn the opinion of an expert reviewer based solely on your speculation."

"I demand an immediate independent expert re-review of this manuscript, avoiding all stakeholders from North American circles. At the same time, I demand that the editorial department conduct an independent investigation into Miller’s compliance with his confidentiality agreement."

"That’s against procedure, Gu. Doing this could offend the entire Hopkins system," Geoffrey tried to refuse.

"Geoffrey, don’t forget that next month in Paris, the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine is holding a preparatory meeting for guideline revisions. I will be meeting with several leading experts from France, Germany, and Sweden. If the NEJM’s review process is proven to be the private garden and idea bank for certain American scholars... I will unite the academic committees of Europe and send a joint letter of inquiry to the NEJM. At that point, the future core research findings from Europe’s top medical centers might just prioritize the Lancet."

In ’08, the medical communities of Europe and the United States were already quietly competing with each other.

The lifeblood of a top journal is its supply of high-quality manuscripts.

When a European heavyweight used their manuscript supply as leverage, the issue was elevated to a strategic game between the two major medical factions.

Geoffrey absolutely did not dare to protect a reviewer suspected of plagiarism at such a critical juncture.

In fact, as editor-in-chief, Geoffrey felt a sense of crisis.

In another ten years or so, the NEJM would be surpassed by the Lancet in impact factor, losing its number one spot.

Although he couldn’t predict this with such accuracy, he could sense the trend.

"...I understand," Geoffrey conceded. "I will personally follow up on this. If everything is true, the editorial department will freeze all related submissions from the Miller Laboratory."

"Excellent. I’ll be waiting for your news."

Gu Qingyan’s approach was different from Zhang Sui’s.

Her idea was simple: when facing people who believe might makes right, the counterattack not only had to be swift, but it also had to be overwhelming.

Flip the whole table.

’Go on, let’s see how you operate now!’

...

「Meanwhile.」

Yang Xu drove straight to the provincial department.

The minister asked with concern, "Old Yang, what’s wrong?"

Yang Xu dropped a bombshell: "Minister Lin, Jiang He is being robbed by the United States!"

"What?!"

Then, Yang Xu explained the entire situation from beginning to end.

Lin Zhenhua’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper as he listened, and by the end, his face was ashen.

This was 2008 in China, just after the Olympic Games had ended.

At the national level, there was a strong call for independent innovation, and every industry was eager to prove its strength on the international stage.

Against this backdrop, how could a medical breakthrough—fully and independently developed by Chinese doctors, capable of significantly reducing mortality rates, and even qualified to set the global warning standard for severe pancreatitis—simply be stolen?

"We absolutely cannot allow this to happen!"

Lin Zhenhua said angrily, "Dealing with the journal will be a long, drawn-out process. If we let them run the data and publish first, we’ll lose the initiative in international public opinion."

"Exactly, Minister. However, the highest standard in clinical medicine is which hospital is the first to use it as a clinical guidance tool and achieve actual results."

Lin Zhenhua looked at Yang Xu. "You mean..."

"The SAP model has been piloted in our hospital with good results. The provincial commendation conference is coming up soon. I request that we upgrade this conference. Invite the mainstream medical media stationed in China, both domestic and foreign—get people from Xinhua News Agency, Reuters, and the Associated Press. At the press conference, have an official government representative timestamp and endorse Jiang He’s SAP prediction model. Announce in front of the media that the model has already been adopted by the Southern Medical University First Affiliated Hospital as a routine auxiliary diagnostic standard in the emergency department."

Lin Zhenhua thought for a moment and immediately understood what Yang Xu meant.

Then he said, "Alright. I’ll call my superiors right now!"

Watching Minister Lin’s decisive and efficient manner, Yang Xu let out a long sigh of relief.

Jiang He charges forward boldly, and his teachers will always have his back.

—’No one is allowed to bully my student!’

...

「At this moment, in the administration building of Southern Medical University.」

Dean Chen was the most ruthless of all.

Dean Chen directly contacted a top leader.

Yes... a very, very top leader.

The goal was simple.

To see if they could go through the national government to directly contact WIPO, intervene, and submit an international patent application.

’Go on and plagiarize. We’ll break your hands!’

’Next, we’ll pack up your lab and release you into the wild!’

...

Everything was brewing and advancing rapidly behind the scenes.

「And in Baltimore.」

Wang Qian was still leisurely sipping coffee and eating a doughnut.

There’s a saying: Those whom the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad with power.

Wang Qian felt that as long as he could keep sucking up to Miller, his future would be worry-free and his rise meteoric. Little did he know...

The door was pushed open, and Zou Ji walked in with dark circles under his eyes.

"Teacher Wang, I’ve run the first batch of five hundred samples. Here are the preliminary result charts."

Wang Qian took the report and casually flipped through it.

"Not bad. Over the next three days, finish running the remaining three thousand samples. Any problem with that?"

Zou Ji lowered his head, looking slightly nervous.

"Did you hear me?" Wang Qian frowned, annoyed by Zou Ji’s slow response.

"Oh, oh, I heard you. I’ll take care of it."

After discussing a few more things, Wang Qian waved his hand. "Go on."

Zou Ji turned and left.

Once outside, he checked the pen in his pocket. It was recording.

Inside the room, Wang Qian continued to eat and drink.

He was fantasizing about the smooth-sailing future that awaited him.

He had to admit, this doughnut was pretty tasty.