Chapter 290 - 195: Christmas

Chapter 290: Chapter 195: Christmas

—If Zou Ji had stabbed Wang Qian in the back, then Miller was unloading an AK-47 on him.

The rain in Baltimore hadn’t stopped.

Miller paced back and forth in his office.

He had no idea that Zou Ji had already submitted a report behind his back.

From his perspective, Wang Qian had just left his office.

And a Chinese researcher backed into a corner was an absolute time bomb, ready to go off at any moment.

Wang Qian understood Miller.

And Miller understood Wang Qian just as well.

The man had been scheming and scraping by at Hopkins for so many years; he definitely had some email correspondence that could implicate Miller.

He had to strike first.

In fact, as far back as 2005, the first time Miller had tacitly allowed Wang Qian to massage marginal data to cater to the tastes of top-tier journals, he had secretly kept a backup of the original data.

Over the next few years, every time Wang Qian made a move, Miller quietly archived the data.

In the words of the ancients: as virtue rises one foot, the devil rises ten.

In modern slang: Damn, there’s always a bigger shark.

Then, he composed a new email:

To the esteemed members of the committee: It is with a heavy heart that I must submit this report. Over the past six months, I have gradually become aware of suspected irregularities in the handling of multiple sets of basic data by Dr. Wang Qian, a researcher in my lab. In order to not wrongly accuse any scholar, and to uphold the century-long reputation of Hopkins, I began a long and difficult process of secret cross-referencing and independent investigation...

Today’s media storm erupting from China has shocked me. Although I have not yet fully verified the matter, it has compelled me to wait no longer. I am now submitting all the evidence I have compiled over the past six months regarding Dr. Wang Qian’s suspected academic fraud, falsification of experimental data, and possible professional misappropriation, dating from 2005 to the present. I deeply blame myself for placing too much trust in him in my daily management. I request the committee’s immediate intervention. I will cooperate unconditionally with any and all investigations. May God bless us...

After sending it,

Miller immediately dialed the internal line for the head of the IT department.

"This is Miller. I’ve just submitted an urgent report to the ethics committee. To prevent the destruction of evidence, I am now authorizing you, in my capacity as the lab’s PI, to immediately cut off all of Dr. Wang Qian’s Exchange email access, lock his campus network account, and freeze his keycard access."

A few minutes later, the department head replied, "Professor Miller, in fact, all of his privileges have already been suspended by the system."

Miller frowned.

’How could the ethics committee react faster than I could submit my report? Unless... someone had already turned Wang Qian in before I did.’

’Another shark, then.’

’Still, this was for the best. It saved me some trouble.’

Immediately after, Miller called Herman, the Executive Vice Dean of the Johns Hopkins Medical School.

The two were close personal friends, their interests deeply intertwined on many matters.

When the call connected, Herman sounded exhausted, clearly run ragged by the news:

"Miller, did you see the Reuters dispatch? It’s not just the media following this anymore. WIPO has officially accepted the PCT international patent application; they’ve secured the priority date. Geoffrey from the *New England Journal of Medicine* just called me. He’s extremely unhappy with our lab."

"I saw it, Herman. I’ve already handled it. Regarding the matter with Wang, I’ve submitted a complete investigative report to the ethics committee. He stole someone else’s data behind my back and has a long history of academic fraud. I’ve been investigating him for a while now."

There were two seconds of silence on the other end of the line before Herman said, "Are you sure your report completely absolves the Medical School of any responsibility?"

"Completely. This is an extremely egregious case of personal moral failing. Hopkins itself is a victim here."

Herman breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Thank God..."

After a pause, he added, "But this doesn’t solve the other problem. That 21-year-old researcher from China has publicly demanded, through the media, to hold a seminar here in Baltimore. Now, all the world’s medical media outlets are watching us. If we refuse, they’ll say we have something to hide."

"No, Herman, we won’t refuse. On the contrary, we’re going to welcome him with open arms."

"Why?"

"Hopkins was founded over a century ago. We are one of the birthplaces of modern medicine. Our foundation is built on inclusivity. Regardless of what country someone is from, or how young they are, as long as they are capable enough, we should provide them a platform for open academic exchange."

Herman was a bit baffled on the other end of the line.

Miller continued, "Herman, think about it. If we graciously invite him over, and even have the school cover his travel expenses, what will the media write? They’ll say that even though Hopkins produced a scoundrel like Wang Qian, its academic spirit remains magnanimous. And, to be fair, that early prediction model for SAP with an AUC reaching 0.915 is truly high-caliber. It’s worthy of having top scholars from across the United States sit down and discuss it properly."

Herman was convinced.

The solution Miller proposed would undoubtedly minimize the negative fallout.

It could even, conversely, enhance the university’s reputation.

"That makes sense..." Herman mused. "Let the public see our magnanimity. If he really is talented, we not only give him a seminar, but we could even offer him a PhD admission letter with a full scholarship on the spot. It would become a celebrated story in the medical world."

Miller smiled. "Exactly. I’ll leave you to coordinate this, Herman. Send an official invitation to the relevant departments in China. We need to show the whole world the stature of Hopkins."

"Good idea, Miller. Your ability to handle a crisis is always reassuring."

The call ended.

The smile vanished from Miller’s lips.

’Inclusivity? Respect for scholars? A platform for open exchange?’

—What ridiculous words.

Miller had no idea where this young kid from across the ocean found the audacity to come to Johns Hopkins University for a seminar.

A 21-year-old kid who had probably never even heard of a high-pressure academic grilling conducted entirely in English.

Miller now needed to prove to Geoffrey, the editor-in-chief of the *New England Journal of Medicine*, and the entire medical community that his decision to reject Jiang He’s paper as a reviewer had been both professional and correct.

And he could do just that, as long as he could get Jiang He to Hopkins.

Just think about it.

Twenty-one years old, standing at Hopkins—he’d be shaking in his boots.

The audience would be full of top heavy hitters.

The entire session in English. Aggressive, packed with jargon, full of tricky questions.

It would be enough to make a young man lose his nerve on the spot, to become completely tongue-tied.

To ensure Jiang He would be utterly humiliated, Miller also sent a message to his lab’s chief biostatistics postdoc:

"Pull the last five years of emergency ICU database from the Hopkins medical system. I need you to immediately screen for twenty special cases of severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). I want the extremely rare data—for example: African American cases with severe obesity and concomitant sickle cell anemia traits; Latino cases with rare autoimmune diseases; and Caucasian cases with disordered biochemical markers caused by long-term use of specific opioid painkillers."

After sending the message, Miller let out a cold sneer.

Jiang He’s model was run on a serum bank from the China region.

In 2008, it was simply impossible for China to have cases involving these complex Western ethnic minorities or extreme medication histories.

When the time came, during the seminar, Miller would politely project the data from these twenty extremely rare cases onto the auditorium screen.

He would run the model in public, prove that Jiang He’s paper was flawed, and then say:

"You see, my dear colleagues, this is precisely why I rejected the paper in the first place. While this model performs exceptionally well in Asian populations, it has severe regional and racial limitations. Until its generalizability has been fully demonstrated, the *New England Journal of Medicine* absolutely cannot publish a clinical standard that could be misleading for other ethnic groups. Wang Qian’s behavior is contemptible, but my rigor as a reviewer is beyond question."

It was now mid-November.

’I’ll set the date for the seminar for December 15th.’

Miller breathed a puff of white vapor onto the cold windowpane, his fingertip leisurely tracing a word—a discriminatory one.

Listening to the cold rain outside, he nonchalantly plotted.

’I have to get this ridiculous farce over with before Christmas.’

’After all, he wanted to fly to Hawaii with his family for a pleasant vacation.’