News Archive

Announcements and News

10/11/07--The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) announced late last month that it was renewing accreditation to the University of Minnesota. AAHRPP is a nonprofit organization that offers accreditation to institutions engaged in research involving human participants.

The accreditation demonstrates that the University of Minnesota meets AAHRPP standards by protecting all research participants, and goes beyond the federal minimum.

 “The University of Minnesota makes protection of research participants a top priority, as evidenced by AAHRPP's recognition of our high-quality human research protection program,” said Moira, Keane, director, Research Subjects’ Protection Programs at the University of Minnesota. “In pursuing AAHRPP accreditation, the University of Minnesota research community went through a rigorous process of self assessment, to show that we meet and exceed regulatory and ethical standards for protecting human subjects in research.”

The University of Minnesota is one 81 organizations accredited by AAHRPP, representing a total of 307 entities. The list is comprised of organizations in the biomedical and behavioral and social sciences research fields, including community hospitals, Veterans Affairs hospitals, teaching hospitals, independent review boards, research institutes, contract research organizations, and universities.

AAHRPP accreditation is valid for three years. Accredited organizations submit annual reports to AAHRPP on the status of their human research protection programs.

7/1/06--Vice President for Research announces that effective July 1, 2006 administrative support for the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) will transition from Department of Environmental Health and Safety (DEHS) to the Research Subjects Protection Program (RSPP), Office of the Vice President for Research. The change addresses a need for greater direction from the Vice President for Research regarding IBC operations and to achieve a higher level of harmonization across the Universitys three regulatory committees (IRB, IACUC and IBC). Associate Vice President for Research and Regulatory Affairs, Richard Bianco, will expand his Institutional Official oversight responsibilities to include the IRB, IACUC and now IBC.

Questions about the IBC administrative support transition should be directed to Moira Keane, Director, RSPP at 612-626-5654. For more information about the IBC and for updates about the changes see: http://www.ibc.umn.edu/