COVID-19 presents enormous challenges to research ethics oversight. Here, we’ve begun a collection of oversight-related resources in order to best prepare our community for the operational and review concerns brought on by the viral outbreak. Read more
This January, PRIM&R welcomed Brenda Curtis, PhD, MsPH and Helen O’Meara, MS, CPIA, LSSGB to our Board of Directors. Both of these new members exemplify service to the field of research ethics and promise to be strong stewards of PRIM&R’s mission in the years to come. These new members are as follows: Read more
PRIM&R's Diversity Advisory Group (DAG) works to advance PRIM&R's goal of promoting a diverse and inclusive environment. It advises PRIM&R staff on strategies for fostering a membership community where differences can flourish and works to raise the profile of diversity as an issue that matters to the broader research oversight field. One way that PRIM&R is committed to acting against racism is by sharing information, and the DAG encourages members of the PRIM&R community to support the expansion of resources by contributing suggestions. Read more
There are so many facets to being an IACUC coordinator that sometimes more experienced coordinators may forget we even do. The IACUC20 session "IACUC Administration for New IACUC Administrators/Coordinators" not only covered all the basics of what an IACUC administrator/coordinator may do, but both presenters took the time to explain how they fulfill these duties at their own institutions. This session helped give me a greater appreciation of everything that I do in my role. Read more
Last year, Heather H. Pierce, JD, MPH and I shared some thoughts about the Belmont Report at 40, and about the evolution and flexibility of the Belmont principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice in the face of changing circumstances. As we leave behind the extraordinary year of 2020, I have been thinking about how the pandemic, together with the Black Lives Matter social justice movement, has shone new, and I would say welcome, light on the principle of justice in research. Read more
There are few constants in life—one though, is change. Being able to effectively shepherd and champion a change, especially one (or many) that can have impacts over a large group of people is a critical skill that IACUC administrators should work to hone. To start honing this skill, knowing the components of how to effectively be a part of the change is crucial. Read more
On November 4, 2020 HHS published a proposed rule titled Securing Updated and Necessary Statutory Evaluations Timely that implements an automatic expiration date for all new HHS regulations of ten years after their initial promulgation. Before that ten-year period is up, HHS regulators may choose to initiate a process to evaluate the rule to assess its continued effectiveness and relevance; if they do not, the rule simply expires. PRIM&R submitted a comment to HHS offering our perspective on the rule’s potential impact, with specific regard to the research ethics and oversight communities. Despite the clear benefits of regular, retrospective review of regulations, the rule’s attempt to enact it is hasty, blunt, and overly rigid and we urge HHS to carefully reconsider it before it is finalized. Read more
