Collegiate Times

The Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, owned and operated by Virginia Tech, is currently under investigation by the Division of State Internal Audit.

University spokesman Larry Hincker said last week that the university was unaware of the allegations and denied a direct relationship between the DSIA's audit and the dismissal of a top administrator inside VBI.

Executive Director Bruno Sobral stepped down from his position on Feb. 23 at the request of Tech President Charles Steger.

"Dr. Steger felt like it was too difficult for him to handle the management enterprises and ... do research," Hincker said. "The value that Bruno has to this university is that he is a world-class scientist."

Hincker was unaware of why Sobral was asked to step down from his position with no notice, effective immediately.

"I can't answer that," Hincker said. "That's between Dr. Steger and Dr. Sobral."

Sobral had served as the institute's director for eight years.

State Internal Auditor John Spooner confirmed that VBI was being investigated but declined to comment on whether the focus was on VBI or Sobral.

"Virginia Tech's internal auditing department is investigating VBI on our behalf, but I can't say anything other than that," Spooner said. "We expect the results of the audit to be returned back to us in early April."

DSIA operates a state employee fraud, waste and abuse hotline that allows for state employees to anonymously report issues to a higher authority. Allegations presented to the hotline are then investigated by the DSIA or a partnering organization.

Sharon Kurek, director of internal audit at Tech, declined to comment on the investigation and said Hincker would be able to speak on the university's role in the state audit.

Hincker said the only familiarity he had with the commonwealth's audit was through what he had read in newspapers.

"I don't know what the Division of State Internal Audit is doing," Hincker said. "It is not a normal process for them to confirm that a hotline call has come in. Maybe one of the reasons for that, though, is that so few of them are ever substantiated. I don't know the content, who called it in, or about whom or what."

In early February, Steger appointed Minnis Ridenour, a senior fellow for resource development, to conduct an evaluation of Sobral and other management and organizational issues inside VBI, according to a letter sent to VBI staff members.

"Minnis does a lot of special projects for the president because of his prior experience as the university's chief operating officer," Hincker said. "President Steger contacted him quite some time ago to begin developing this process."

VBI was the first university research center scheduled for evaluation by Ridenour's process, still in development.

Hincker said Ridenour encountered concerns regarding the effectiveness of Sobral and questioned his ability to manage a large-scale enterprise while trying to run his own research centers.

But Hincker also added that Steger's decision to ask Sobral to step down was not the result of an evaluation by Ridenour.

"It was a result of the personal analysis of Dr. Steger and his own judgment," Hincker said.

Sobral serves as a professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and is the director of two research groups within VBI. The groups are PathoSystems Biology Group and Cyberinfrastructure Group.

Paul Knox, former dean of the College of Architecture, is currently serving as the interim director of VBI while the university searches for a permanent replacement.