Human Subjects Protection Program Accreditation for DOE Labs

Summary

The Department of Energy (DOE) is committed to maintaining national excellence and leadership in the protection of human research subjects, whether research is conducted at DOE sites, with DOE funds, or with DOE personnel. A Collaborative Institutional Review Board (IRB) Training Initiative (CITI) tutorial was recently provided to all DOE sites with the expectation that all IRB members and human subject researchers take and pass this tutorial. In addition, DOE labs conducting a substantial number of human subjects research studies are now expected to be accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP; [website]) to assure that DOE labs are among the best in class, i.e., comparable to the National Institutes of Health and leading medical centers, with regard to protection of its human research subjects. AAHRPP has agreed to work with DOE and DOE sites to tailor its accreditation process to the unique needs of the DOE labs. An AAHRPP/DOE workshop is planned in Washington, DC, on December 8, 2003, for all DOE human subject contacts.