Author: Ellen Ciesielski

Prospective Basic Science Studies Involving Human Participants

On July 24th, NIH published a Guide Notice (NOT-OD-19-126) announcing the extension of delayed enforcement of registering and results reporting of Basic Experimental Studies involving Humans (BESH trials) on ClinicalTrials.gov through September 24, 2021. BESH trials are basic research projects exploring fundamental aspects of phenomena that involve human participants.

In a previous RFI (NOT-OD-18-217), NIH solicited feedback from the scientific community about challenges in reporting BESH trials on the ClinicalTrials.gov platform and several primary challenges were identified. Therefore, NIH has determined that more time is needed to address these challenges. In the interim, to meet NIH’s registration and results reporting requirement, alternative publicly available platforms should be used as described at the time of application in the Dissemination Plan attachment.

Please note this extension does not change the requirement for clinical trials to be registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.

 

For questions about this notice or your ClinicalTrials.gov requirement, please contact Ellen Ciesielski, 860.679.6004.

 

 

NIH Asks for Your Feedback on a Future Draft Data Management and Sharing Policy

The Office of the Vice President for Research would like to share some information regarding data sharing with researchers who may be affected.

 

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking feedback on proposed key provisions to help inform the development of a draft NIH policy for data management and sharing. Submit your comments to NIH by December 10, 2018. Additional information can be found in this NIH blog post, and questions about the proposed provisions may be sent to the NIH Office of Science Policy at SciencePolicy@od.nih.gov

 

NIH will also be hosting a webinar on the proposed key provisions on November 7, 2018, from 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. ET.

 

For questions, please contact Research Compliance Monitor, Ellen Ciesielski at 860.679.6004.

 

 

 

Will NIH require you to register your basic science research in ClinicalTrials.gov?

The Office of the Vice President for Research would like to share some information regarding ClinicalTrials.gov with researchers who may be affected.

 

NIH has released a Request for Information (RFI), Registration and Results Reporting Standards for Prospective Basic Science Studies Involving Human Participants. This RFI seeks input from the scientific research community and the general public regarding how best to implement the NIH Policy on the Dissemination of NIH-Funded Clinical Trial Information (NOT-OD-16-149) for prospective basic science studies involving human participants. NIH is specifically interested in learning more about studies that meet the NIH definition of a clinical trial (NOT-OD-15-015) but are not defined as applicable clinical trials (42 CFR Part 11), and also meet the definition of fundamental research. You can submit your comments to NIH by November 12, 2018.

 

For questions about ClinicalTrials.gov, please contact Research Compliance Monitor, Ellen Ciesielski at 860.679.6004.

 

Are you liable for ClinicalTrials.gov Civil Money Penalties?

The Office of the Vice President for Research would like to share some information regarding ClinicalTrials.gov with researchers who may be affected.

 

On September 18, 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a draft guidance titled Civil Money Penalties relating to the Clinical Trials.gov Data Bank. The guidance addresses how the FDA Centers (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, and Center for Devices and Radiological Health, for drug, biological, and device products, respectively) identify whether parties have failed to submit required clinical trial registrations, results, or certifications, or knowingly submitted false or misleading information.

The guidance explains that when a responsible party has potentially failed to comply with its disclosure obligations, the FDA will send a Preliminary Notice of Noncompliance Letter, and allow the responsible party 30 days to make corrections. If the FDA determines that the responsible party has still failed to comply, the FDA may issue a Notice of Noncompliance, assess civil monetary penalties, or seek an injunction and/or criminal prosecution. The statutory maximum for civil penalties is “not more than $10,000 for all violations adjudicated in a single proceeding,” plus “not more than $10,000 for each day that the violation continues” past the 30-day notification period.

The deadline to submit your comments to the FDA on this draft is November 20, 2018.

 

  • To check if your trial meets the criteria for ClinicalTrials.gov registration and results posting set forth by the FDAreview this checklist. Applicable clinical trials include those evaluating at least one drug, biological, or device product regulated by the FDA.

 

  • If your NIH-funded study involves human subjects, review this checklist to see if it meets the NIH’s broad definition of a clinical trial and will require registration and results posting. NIH defines a clinical trial as a research study in which one or more human subjects are prospectively assigned to one or more interventions (which may include placebo or other control) to evaluate the effects of those interventions on health-related biomedical or behavioral outcomes.

 

For questions about ClinicalTrials.gov, please contact Research Compliance Monitor, Ellen Ciesielski at 860.679.6004.

 

ResearchMatch training

ResearchMatch.org is a national online recruitment tool, funded by the National Institutes of Health and maintained at Vanderbilt University. ResearchMatch connects researchers with individuals interested in participating in research studies, through its secure, online matching tool. There is no cost to UConn Health researchers to use ResearchMatch.

To learn more about using ResearchMatch for your studies, register for the free ResearchMatch Researcher Webinar Training/Live Demo on Thursday, July 12, 2018 from 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The training is open to all research staff. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions on joining the training.

The team at ResearchMatch will show you how to register your studies, create a cohort of potential volunteers and send out contact messages and surveys. They will also cover how to send a pre-screening (eligibility) survey, contact the volunteers that replied ‘yes’ to your initial message, and manage your enrollment continuum.

To register for the training, click here:

https://attendee.gototraining.com/r/9112903382698216193

For additional information, contact Ellen Ciesielski (eciesielski@uchc.edu; 860-679-6004).

Additional Information on Newly Published Research Policies

The newly published policies for Animal Use in Research, Teaching and Testing and Research Involving Human Subjects revise the existing UConn Storrs policies to establish a uniform regulatory compliance statement that applies to all campuses under which the programs at UConn Health and Storrs operate.  A single, overarching policy will help in the development of other policies and procedures to help facilitate cross-campus initiatives.

Key revisions:

  • Clarification of who the policies apply to (both policies)
  • Revisions to definitions to make them consistent with the regulatory definition (both policies)
  • Clarification regarding the role of the Institutional Official and committees (IACUC and IRB)
  • Clarification of the authority of the attending veterinarian to be consistent with regulatory requirements (Animal Use policy)
  • Clarification of the authority of the IRB to be consistent with regulatory requirements (Human Subjects Research policy)
  • Revisions to the enforcement section to make the sections consistent with other university policies (both policies)
  • Updated list of authorities (both policies)

 

The Human Stem Cell Research policy clarifies and updates the existing University-wide policy regarding the type and scope of research to which the policy applies.

 

The ClinicalTrials.gov policy establishes a new University-wide policy to address FDA, NIH and CMS requirements that applicable trials are registered.

 

Animal Use in Research, Teaching and Testing: https://policy.uconn.edu/?p=113

Human Stem Cell Research Approval: https://policy.uconn.edu/?p=2453

Human Subjects Research: https://policy.uconn.edu/?p=406

ClinicalTrials.gov: https://policy.uconn.edu/?p=7310

 

For additional information, contact Ellen Ciesielski (eciesielski@uchc.edu, 860-679-6004)

 

Revised & New University-Wide Research Policies

 

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) Research Compliance Services would like to share some important updates regarding university policies for animal use, human subjects, and stem cell research. These policies were revised to be consistent with federal requirements and are now in effect for all campuses, including UConn Health.  A new university-wide policy to address FDA, NIH, and CMS requirements for registration of applicable trials to ClinicalTrials.gov has also been published.

 

Please see links to published policies below.

 

ClinicalTrials.gov: https://policy.uconn.edu/?p=7310

Animal Use in Research, Teaching and Testing: https://policy.uconn.edu/?p=113

Human Stem Cell Research Approval: https://policy.uconn.edu/?p=2453

Human Subjects Research: https://policy.uconn.edu/?p=406

 

For additional information, contact Ellen Ciesielski (eciesielski@uchc.edu, 860-679-6004).