Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) Conflict of Interest Policy

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Policy Number:
UW-6087
Old Policy Number:
IBC-POL-017
Responsible Office:
Environment, Health and Safety

University Policy

Rationale/​Purpose:

The purpose of this policy is to identify and manage conflicts of interest of IBC members and consultants that may affect or appear to affect their contributions to protocol review, DURC reviews, or actions to suspend or revoke authorization for previously approved research.

Definitions:
Conflict of Interest:

An IBC member or consultant, has a conflict of interest with respect to research when the IBC member or consultant, or an immediate family member:

  1. Has a professional interest as a Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator or Laboratory or Administrative Personnel on the protocol; or
  2. Collaborates with a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator of a protocol under review, and receives financial support because of that collaboration; or
  3. Has an interest that is related to the research and that meets or exceeds one of the following thresholds:
    • Compensation of $5,000 or more in a calendar year from a publicly traded or privately held business entity.
    • An ownership interest in a publicly traded business entity valued at $5,000 or more or a 5% or greater equity interest.
    • Any ownership interest in a privately held business entity regardless of the value.
    • A combination of compensation and ownership interests in a publicly held business entity valued at $5,000 or more.
    • A leadership position in a business entity (e.g. service as an officer, member of the board of directors, or in any other position of trust, confidence, and responsibility for a business entity, whether or not the investigator receives compensation for such service).
    • Proprietary interest of any value including, but not limited to, a patent, trademark, copyright or licensing agreement, managed by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF); or
  4. Has a significant relationship that may cause bias or create the appearance of bias by the member or consultant in the review of research.
IBC Member:
Includes UW members and public members.
Immediate Family Member:
Includes an IBC member or consultant’s spouse and dependent children.
Policy:

Except when providing information at the IBC’s request, no IBC member or consultant with a conflict of interest with respect to research may be involved in the review or approval of such research, or in deliberations or voting on actions to suspend, revoke or reinstate authorization for such research. An IBC member may not be counted for quorum in an IBC vote regarding such research.

Roles and Responsibilities

  1. The Office of Biological Safety will provide this policy to IBC members and consultants.
  2. When IBC members or consultants receive materials before a meeting, they are responsible for disclosing any potential conflict of interest to the Office of Biological Safety or the IBC Chair as soon as possible. Early disclosure permits the Office of Biological Safety to identify a different reviewer for a protocol and to work to ensure a quorum for voting when the IBC meets.
  3. IBC members or consultants are also responsible for disclosing any potential conflict of interest with respect to research to the IBC should issues arise during the course of a meeting.
Related UW-Madison Documents:

The UW-Madison Researchers’ Biosafety Manual, UW-Madison, Office of Biological Safety, current version

External References:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health (NIH) - NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules, current version and/or any subsequent revisions.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) - Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL), Current Edition.

Policy Administration

Approval Authority:
Institutional Biosafety Committee
Policy Manager:
Biological Safety Officer
Contact:
Biological Safety Officer -- Andrea Ladd, andrea.ladd@wisc.edu, (608) 263-9013
Assistant Biological Safety Officer -- Stephanie Kutz, stephanie.kutz@wisc.edu, (608) 622-9764
Effective Date:
07-02-2014
Date Issued:
07-02-2014
Revised Dates:

10/05/2016, 03/07/2018

Retrieved:
09-19-2021 09:43:21