Name	Title	Phone	Email
Audrey R. Chapman, PhD	Chair, SCRO Committee	860.679.1590	achapman@uchc.edu
Ellen Ciesielski	SCRO Coordinator	860.679.6004	eciesielski@uchc.edu

 

SCRO Committee Members

Audrey R. Chapman, PhD, Committee Chair, Professor, School of Medicine, Public Health Sciences

Peter Barwick, MD, Physician (retired), Community Member

Eric Bernstein, JD, EdD, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, School of Dental Medicine

Stephen Clark, PhD, Associate Professor Emeritus, School of Dental Medicine, Genetics and Genome Sciences

Caroline Dealy, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Dental Medicine, Craniofacial Sciences

Jaime Imitola, MD, Vice Chair of Research in Neurology, School of Medicine

James Mulrooney, PhD, Dean, Professor,  Central Connecticut State University, Biomolecular Science

Leonard Paplauskas, UConn Health, Associate Vice President, Research Administration (retired)

Ted Rasmussen, PhD, Associate Professor, UConn, Pharmaceutical Sciences

Ernst Reichenberger, PhD, Professor, School of Dental Medicine, Center for Regenerative Medicine and Skeletal Development

Richard Tombaugh, PhD, Theologian, Community Member

Isolde Bates, ex officio member, Business Services Manager, Genetics and Genome Sciences

Maureen Sansone, ex officio member, IRB Administrator, The Jackson Laboratory

Ellen Ciesielski, SCRO Coordinator, UConn Health, Research Integrity & Compliance

SCRO Registration Form

SCRO Amendment Form

SCRO Completion Form

 

The SCRO Committee is scheduled to meet quarterly but can be convened as needed in between scheduled meetings. Submission Deadline: For new registrations, please submit all required materials at least 4 weeks prior to the scheduled meeting date.

2025 SCRO Meeting Dates

January 7, 2025

March 26, 2025

July 23, 2025

October 22, 2025

 

For additional resources, please check out the following links:

• International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR)
  • ISSCR Guidelines
• National Academy of Sciences Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research
• National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stem Cell Guidelines
  • NIH stem cell information
  • NIH stem cell research policy and FAQs
  • NIH human embryonic stem cell registry
• Connecticut Department of Public Health
  • Connecticut general statute — embryonic stem cell research
• UConn Stem Cell Core
  • UConn Stem Cell Core’s distribution of human pluripotent stem cell lines
• California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM)
• The Jackson Laboratory — stem cells
• The Hinxton Group

The role of the UConn/UConn Health Stem Cell Research Oversight (SCRO) Committee is to ensure that human embryonic stem cell (hESC) and human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) research is well-justified and that inappropriate and/or unethical research is not conducted. Its mandate is to provide oversight of ethical issues related to the derivation and research use of human pluripotent stem cell lines at all schools, colleges, campuses, and research arms of the University of Connecticut/UConn Health per University policy, regardless of the source of funding. From a legal perspective, the review and approval of human embryonic stem cell research by a SCRO committee or its equivalent is required by the State of Connecticut. At a deeper level, SCRO committees exist to protect both the public interest and the progress of biomedical stem cell research. The ethical mandate of the SCRO Committee is to ensure that appropriate respect is given to the value of human life. 

SCRO approval is required prior to any of the following:

1. All research involving human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) (SCRO approval is required by the State of Connecticut and University policy.)
2. In vitro human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) research involving the generation of gametes, embryos, or other totipotent cells (SCRO approval is required by University policy.)
3. In vivo research involving introduction of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) directly into prenatal animals or into the central nervous system of post-natal animals or elsewhere in the animal where cells could potentially enter the central nervous system (SCRO approval is required by University policy.)
4. Stem cell research project funded by the State of Connecticut through the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund, including those that do not use human embryonic stem cells (SCRO approval is required by the State of Connecticut.)

 

Export control laws are federal regulations that govern how certain information, technologies, and commodities can be transmitted overseas or to a foreign national on U.S. soil. The scope of the regulations is broad: they cover exports in virtually all fields of science, engineering, and technology and apply to research activities regardless of the source of funding. Failure to comply with these laws can have serious consequences, both for the institution and for the individual researcher. Potential penalties include fines and possibly imprisonment. It is thus critical for UConn researchers to understand their obligations under these regulations and to work with Research Integrity and Compliance Services to ensure that the University is in compliance.

The International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) regulate defense articles, services, and related technical data that are identified on the Munitions Control List. They are administered by the Department of State. The Export Administration Regulations regulate the export of dual use items, i.e. items with both military and commercial applications, identified on the Commerce Control List. They are administered by the Department of Commerce. The Office of Foreign Assets Control Regulations (OFAC Regulations) regulate economic trade with foreign countries and administer the statutory economic trade sanctions imposed against several foreign countries. They are administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, through the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The Export Control Materials are hosted on the UConn Storrs OVPR website.

If you have any questions about Export Control, please email exportcontrol@uconn.edu.

• Issuance, Review and Execution of the Project Agreement: Because UConn Storrs and UConn Health are separate fiscal entities, a project agreement needs to be executed before funds can be transferred between the two campuses. After the lead organization has received its award, a project agreement is prepared by UConn Storrs SPS unit or UConn Health’s SPS unit. This agreement is emailed to the subawardee’s corresponding unit for review and execution.
  Note: The project agreement must be signed by authorized signatories of both parties. Pls are not authorized to sign.
• Award/Fund Setup: Separate project funds are set up at the lead and sub’s campuses. Prior to fund set-up, all compliance-related approvals should have been obtained, e.g., Institutional Review Board (IRB)/Stem Cell Research Oversight (SCRO)/Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)/Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC).
• Invoicing: Before invoices can be paid, they must be approved by the lead campus’s principal investigator.
• Amendments: Competitive project periods often span multiple budget years. If the sponsoring agency awards funds on a budget year basis, issuance and execution of amendments will be necessary to next year’s funding after it has been released to the lead organization by the sponsor.
• Carryover of Funding and No-Cost Extensions: Carryover of funds and no-cost extensions (NCE) are not authorized without the lead’s written approval. If needed, at least sixty (60) days prior to the end date of the current budget period the PI(s) should seek approval for any carryover or NCE requests.
• Award Closeout: So that awards may be closed out in accordance with sponsor requirements, final invoices will normally be required no later than 45 days following the termination date of the award project period.

For assistance with cross campus subawards,

• in Storrs contact Cerrone Bell at subawards@uconn.edu, and
• at UConn Health contact Christine Kaminski at kaminski@uchc.edu

The mission of Technology Commercialization Services is to expedite and facilitate the transformation of UConn discoveries into products and services that benefit patients, industry and society.

Our goals are to bring together UConn researchers and the business community in order to significantly enhance the commercial and societal impact of UConn’s research; identify and help move inventions by UConn faculty, staff and students towards the market through licensing or new company formation; secure patent protection for new technologies, where warranted by market forces; generate support for ongoing applied/translational research projects including industry partnerships.

Contact us to evaluate and protect a UConn invention; find proof of concept and/or startup funding at UConn, from the investment community, as well as state and private sources; receive coaching and mentoring for your new venture; start a company; license a technology; incubate your business at UConn; access University-wide programs supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.

We are here to help! You can contact any of our team members by visiting the Contacts page.

USEFUL LINKS:

• innovation.uconn.edu
• Guideline document for Faculty, Staff and Students who are affiliated with a Company

Responsible for overseeing the $375 million annual research enterprise across all UConn campuses, including UConn Health, the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) manages all aspects of research and scholarship activities for UConn’s world-class faculty.

The OVPR supports both short- and long-term initiatives to grow UConn’s research enterprise and robust innovation pipeline. Through a dynamic, multifaceted approach, the OVPR promotes single faculty investigator projects, large-scale interdisciplinary collaborations, partnerships with leading industries, and high-potential, university-driven startups.

The OVPR is responsible for:

• Research Support & Development
• Core Research Facilities
• Grant Proposal Support
• Award Management
• Research Compliance
• Technology Commercialization
• UConn’s Technology Incubation Program
• IPB at UConn Tech Park

To learn more about UConn research capabilities, expertise, and partnerships, visit research.uconn.edu.