[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 113 (Wednesday, June 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40301-40302]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-14739]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Announcement of Cooperative Agreement With the Association of 
American Medical Colleges To Support Research Integrity Within Academic 
Societies

AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Office of the 
Secretary, Office of Public Health and Science, Office of Research 
Integrity.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Office of Research Integrity (ORI), Office of Public 
Health and Science, DHHS, announces its plan to support a single source 
cooperative agreement with the Association of American Medical Colleges 
(AAMC). The purposes of this cooperative agreement is to engage the 
help of AAMC in encouraging academic societies to take measures to 
promote research integrity activities within their organizations.

    Authority: This Cooperative Agreement is authorized under 
Section 1707(e)(1) of the Public Health Service Act, as amended.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Director, Division of Education and 
Integrity, Office of Research Integrity, 5515 Security Lane, Suite 700, 
Rockville, MD 20852. (301) 443-5300.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Academic societies play a crucial role in 
defining and promoting standards for the responsible conduct of 
research.

[[Page 40302]]

However, it has also been suggested that academic societies could be 
more active in filling this role. To this end, ORI plans to provide a 
single source cooperative agreement with the AAMC. The purpose of this 
cooperative agreement is to provide financial resources to the AAMC so 
that they will award grants to the targeted academic societies to 
undertake activities aimed at promoting the responsible conduct of 
research.
    The total award to AAMC will amount to approximately $275,000, of 
which $25,000 will be used for administrative expenses. The remaining 
$250,000 will be for proposed grants awards, subdivided into two 
categories. The first category will fund approximately 10 small grants 
of $5,000 each to support single events or limited activities such as a 
special meeting, a national conference, or a publication. The second 
category will fund approximately eight larger grants of $25,000 each. 
These grants will be used for major program initiatives aimed at 
promoting the responsible conduct of research.
    As part of the May 2000 reorganization of the Office of Research 
Integrity, the Division of Education and Integrity, ORI, was directed 
to ``develop and implement, in consultation with the Public Health 
Service agencies, activities and programs for PHS intramural and 
extramural research to teach the responsible conduct of research, 
promote research integrity, [and] prevent research misconduct.'' The 
House Appropriation Committee Report for FY 2002 further urged that ORI 
form ``a strong partnership [with] the extramural research community in 
both the development and implementation of ORI's policies and 
procedures.'' AAMC is ideally and uniquely suited to assist ORI in 
forming partnerships with the extramural community that will foster the 
responsible conduct of research, promote research integrity, and 
thereby prevent research misconduct.
    Founded in 1876, AAMC is a leading association organized for the 
purpose of improving the nation's health through the advancement of 
medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic societies. It is 
comprised of 125 accredited U.S. medical schools, 400 major teaching 
hospitals and health systems, and 98 academic and professional 
societies representing over 100,000 members, including the nation's 
medical students and residents. AAMC has been instrumental in providing 
a continuing forum for the discussion and exchange of information not 
only within its membership but also among academic researchers more 
broadly, from the clinical sciences to basic research. No other 
academic organization has such a diverse membership and at the same 
time is so directly associated with the research programs sponsored by 
DHHS.
    AAMC is uniquely qualified to assist ORI in reaching out to 
academic societies. The AAMC has demonstrated over the years that it 
can work successfully with the scientific community, which includes 
academic societies, by (1) providing information through educational 
conferences, seminars, and publications and (2) advocating with key 
congressional members and government agencies. Over the years, AAMC has 
also shown its ability to partner with other organizations, including 
government entities, such as Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention. AAMC is comprised of five components. One of its components 
is the Council of Academic Societies (CAS). Therefore, it is because of 
this organizational relationship that the AAMC has a unique capacity to 
work directly with key academic societies that intersect with the PHS 
constituent community in a number of distinct ways, e.g., education, 
research, administration, health care delivery, and policy functions. 
Contact with key constituent communities will be organized through 
AAMC's Council of Academic Societies (CAS), one of five constituent 
components. ORI is confident, based on these important and unique 
characteristics, that AAMC is the only organization that can 
effectively bridge the gap between the relevant academic societies and 
the need to promote research integrity in fields that are directly 
relevant to the work of PHS.
    The ORI will assume substantial programmatic involvement in this 
project. It will work cooperatively with AAMC in establishing specific 
goals for this program and participate in the peer review of the 
grants. It will also assist in announcing of the project and the grant 
results.

(OMB Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: The Catalog of Federal 
Domestic Assistance number for this Cooperative Agreement is CFDA 
93.004)

    Dated: June 6, 2002.
Chris B. Pascal,
Director, Office of Research Integrity.
[FR Doc. 02-14739 Filed 6-11-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-31-M