The following is press release issued on June 18 by Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP)

13 Organizations Earn AAHRPP Accreditation
The Universities of Texas and California add Organizations

Washington, D.C., June 18, 2009—Thirteen new Organizations earned accreditation from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) a week ago, including two that joined others from their university systems.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio are joining the University of Texas at Austin as newly Accredited Organizations. And the University of California, Los Angeles, joins three others in the University of California System—Irvine, San Francisco, and Riverside—on the accredited roster as well.

In addition, one major teaching hospital and another independent children’s hospital joined the ranks of Organizations like theirs at AAHRPP, which has now accredited 188 Organizations with more than 900 entities.

The Organizations, all awarded Full Accreditation, are:

• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA
• G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VAMC, Jackson, MS
• Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center – Shreveport, Shreveport, LA
• Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, OH
• Overton Brooks VA Medical Center, Shreveport, LA
• South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, TX
• Southeast Louisiana Veterans Healthcare System, New Orleans, LA
• Syracuse VA Medical Center, Syracuse, NY
• The University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX
• The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX
• University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
• VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, CO

AAHRPP is a non-profit organization that works with Organizations that conduct human research to raise the level of protection for research participants. AAHRPP accredits Organizations that can demonstrate they provide participant safeguards that surpass the threshold of state and federal requirements. The accreditation program utilizes a voluntary, peer-driven educational model. For organizations interested in learning more about accreditation, visit http://www.aahrpp.org/.Through the rigorous accreditation process, Organizations must demonstrate that they have built extensive safeguards into every level of their research operation and that they adhere to the highest standards for research. AAHRPP’s standards exceed federal regulations by requiring Organizations to address conflict of interest, to provide community outreach and education and to apply the same stringent protections to all research involving human participants. (Under federal regulations, such protections are mandated only for federally sponsored or regulated research.) The accreditation process typically results in system-wide improvements that enhance protections for research participants and promote high-quality research.Accreditation is available to Organizations worldwide that conduct biomedical, behavioral or social sciences research involving human participants. Decisions on accreditation are announced quarterly, and accreditation is valid for three years.