Committees keep University in compliance

By Kelli Whitlock

Ed Rowland, Mario Grijalva, Jacqueline Legg and Steve Grimes are sticklers for regulations. They have to be. The four lead committees designed to keep Ohio University in compliance with various governmental rules on everything from the use of human subjects in research to fire safety.

This group and the committees they oversee were honored for their work recently at a luncheon hosted by John Bantle, vice president for research and Gary North, vice president for administration. Some 45 people attended, and were honored by talks from several senior administration officials, including the vice presidents for research and administration, the provost and the president.

"The University is exceedingly grateful to the faculty and staff members who serve on these compliance committees," said President Robert Glidden. "This work requires a great deal of time and expertise, and these functions are so important that they require the attention of some of our busiest people. Clearly this is an unselfish contribution for the good of the whole order."

There are four groups on campus: the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) oversees the care and use of animals in research and teaching and is led by Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences Ed Rowland; the Institutional Review Board (IRB) manages human subjects research and is led by Jacqueline Legg, business manager for Hudson Health Center; the Radiation Safety Committee, chaired by Distinguished Professor of Physics Steve Grimes, governs the use of radioactive materials in research; and the Institutional Biosafety Committee, led by Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences Mario Grijalva, oversees the use of biological materials in research.

Each committee has between nine and 20 members, depending on the group, meets monthly and is comprised of a mix of faculty and staff. Some committees also include community and student representatives.

With the recent increase in government regulation and oversight, ensuring compliance has never been so important, according to Jo Ellen Sherow, director of the Office of Research Compliance, which oversees human subjects and animal use, as well as conflict of interest, scientific misconduct and the drug-free campus initiative.

"Probably the biggest issue facing compliance today is the increasing regulatory burden we are required to implement and oversee in a decreasing budgetary climate for higher education," Sherow said.

An increase in requests submitted to the various committees also has added pressure to the groups' responsibilities. All faculty, staff and students wishing to use animals, human subjects, radioactive materials or biohazardous substances must first seek approval from the appropriate committee.

And those requests are on the rise: The IRB has received 242 new proposals so far this year; a sharp increase from just a few years ago. The other committees have seen similar increases.

Compliance is a hot topic across the state and nation. Incidents at Johns Hopkins University, Duke University and the University of Oklahoma have led to tighter scrutiny by the federal government over institutions that do human subjects research. And the war on terrorism has had a toll as well. At Ohio University, more faculty are requesting permission to use hazardous substances in research that could benefit homeland security. There also are heightened security concerns for lab safety, according to Chuck Hart, interim director of environmental health and safety, which oversees radiation and biosafety issues on campus.

At Ohio University, another looming issue for these four compliance committees and the two offices that oversee them is a lot of oversight with small staffs. As the research endeavor continues to grow, so do the number of protocols and the amount of management required. While the offices are meeting the demand now, Sherow and Hart say the issue of compliance likely will require greater attention and additional resources in the future.

Kelli Whitlock is the director of Research Communications.