Jenice Longfield, M.D., M.P.H., is leading the task force for research accreditation.
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The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is seeking accreditation from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs Inc. (AAHRPP).

Obtaining the accreditation will demonstrate the UT Health Science Center’s commitment to conducting ethically sound and scientifically valid research that meets the highest standards of protection for human clinical trials participants.

Task force coordinating accreditation process
Brian Herman, Ph.D., vice president for research at the Health Science Center, appointed a core task force to pursue accreditation chaired by Jenice Longfield, M.D., M.P.H., assistant vice president for research operations. The task force has conducted a self-study analysis using the accreditation standards and is now in the process of writing and revising policies to address issues identified.

Human research program already benefiting from improvements
“Using the standards and the self-study analysis, we have identified several opportunities for improvement,” Dr. Longfield said. “We are already making changes that should benefit our entire research community, as well as improve protection for patients volunteering as research participants,” she said.

New steering committee established to coordinate overall research program
“One example is to establish a new institutional Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) Steering Committee to support and promote the best processes throughout the various components of the clinical research enterprise. The steering committee will replace a previous IRB steering committee that was more narrowly focused. The new committee will provide a forum for discussing research issues which will cross departmental and school lines and include representatives from our major affiliate institutions.” Dr. Longfield said. “By working together, the steering committee will analyze problems, identify possible solutions and work to improve the entire Health Science Center Human Research Protection Program.”

Accreditation requirements
Accreditation requires a thorough self-evaluation, submission of a detailed description of the institution’s organizational structure related to research, extensive documentation of its policies relevant to research and approval by the Institutional Review Boards (IRB) and other relevant committees. The accreditation standards address contracting processes for sponsored studies, investigator responsibilities and conflict-of-interest policies. AAHRPP also expects institutions to have participant outreach endeavors.

Timeline
After the application is submitted in October, site visitors from other institutions will visit the Health Science Center in late 2008 or early 2009 to interview executives, IRB chairs, IRB members, investigators, research study staff and institutional research administrators. The site visitors will send a report of their findings to the AAHRPP Council for a final accreditation decision.

For more information about the status of the research accreditation process, please contact Dr. Longfield, (210) 567-0651.