Team of NIH officials to visit VUMC next week
Anything and everything related to research will be open for discussion during a two-day National Institutes of Health Proactive Research Compliance Site Visit.
A team of NIH officials will visit Vanderbilt on Thursday, Sept. 21 and Friday, Sept. 22 as part of an effort to learn national mechanisms for implementing research compliance. Vanderbilt is one of ten institutions selected for such a site visit.
“It is a compliment that Vanderbilt is one of the institutions being visited to learn ‘best practices’ to create national expectations,” said Lee E. Limbird, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for Research.
“We are stewards of the public’s tax dollars in our research, and we need to gain and sustain the public’s trust that those resources are wisely and appropriately used.”
Dr. James D. Snell Jr., professor of Medicine and VUMC Compliance Officer, emphasized that the visit will provide a forum for the mutual exchange of information.
“This site visit is a good opportunity for us to share our ideas about what works and what things are problematic in administering research in an academic institution,” Snell said. “At the same time, it is an important learning opportunity for us to personally hear from senior NIH officials about what they think we should be doing to comply with research rules and regulations.”
Discussions will focus on how best to ensure compliance with the regulatory guidelines that cover human subjects research, animal research, chemical/biological/radioactive waste disposal, intellectual property and patents, grants management, and accounting.
The NIH team is particularly interesting in learning how roles and responsibilities for research compliance are articulated at Vanderbilt, and what mechanisms are in place for training faculty, trainees, and staff involved in research about compliance issues. To learn what is available, see the training matrix at www.vanderbilt.edu/compliance.
After the Vanderbilt visit—its last—the NIH team will make national recommendations for implementation policies covering research compliance.