Improving the protections for human subjects involved in research is the fundamental responsibility of the Human Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The mission of the HSPP is to protect the rights and welfare of all human subjects involved in research. This mission is achieved by providing institutional support to investigators conducting the research and the institutional review boards responsible for the ethical review of research protocols to be conducted at UIC and advocating on behalf of research subjects, fostering the overall integrity of research at UIC.
The specific aims of this proposal include improving the resources for training in the ethical conduct of human subjects research for investigators, staff, students and institutional review board members and improving the areas of oversight and monitoring of research projects conducted at UIC. A comprehensive education program integrating the ethical principles guiding human subjects research, the Federal regulations, applicable State laws, and institutional assurances for human subjects protections, is vital to any protections program. A research ethics-training system encompassing these principles and regulations will be developed through the revision of the current educational curriculum and the development of new resources available to the research community. In addition to the improvements in education, enhanced oversight and monitoring of human subjects research will be attained through the development of a data and safety monitoring team at UIC. This team will be accredited in the process of monitoring research and be charged with the task of developing a research-monitoring plan for the University. Through these initiatives, UIC will foster the mission of the HSPP in protecting the rights and welfare of human subjects involved in research and further its vision to be a model of excellence that ensures the primacy of human subject protections while supporting the advancement of science in the endeavor to serve mankind.
