How Grantees Manage of Interest in Research Funded by the National Institutes of Health

摘要

To determine the nature of financial conflicts of interest reported by grantee institutions to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in fiscal year (FY) 2006. To determine how grantee institutions managed, reduced, or eliminated these financial conflicts of interest. To determine whether vulnerabilities exist in grantee institutions oversight of the identification and management of financial conflicts of interest. NIH receives billions of dollars annually to support its mission of conducting and supporting medical research. In FY 2008, the total NIH appropriation was $29.5 billion, 80 percent of which was distributed through almost 50,000 competitive grants to more than 325,000 investigators (hereinafter referred to as researchers) at over 3,000 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions across the country and around the world. Pursuant to Federal regulation, each grantee institution receiving NIH funds must have a written policy for identifying financial conflicts of interest (hereinafter referred to as conflicts) and ensuring that conflicts are managed, reduced, or eliminated. Grantee institutions must certify that they have written and enforced administrative processes to identify and manage, reduce, or eliminate conflicting interests. They must also certify: that existing conflicts (but not the nature of the interest or other details) will be reported to NIH prior to the expenditure of any funds under that award; that these conflicts have been managed, reduced, or eliminated; and that any subsequently identified conflicts will be reported and will be managed, reduced, or eliminated, at least on an interim basis, within 60 days of identification. We collected information from each of the 41 grantee institutions that reported conflicts to NIH in FY 2006. We also requested supporting documentation, including researchers financial disclosure forms.