Rocked By Alcohol-Industry Ethics Scandal, NIH To Evaluate All Private Donations To Research Projects
The National Institutes of Health was criticized this past year when it was reported that the alcohol industry had been funding the government's study on the benefits of moderate drinking. Director Francis Collins says it's important to reestablish trust in the institution's policies: “We have to do everything we can to ensure the integrity of the NIH grants process and the quality of our research is above reproach, which means worrying about conflicts."
The New York Times:
N.I.H. To Scrutinize Private Donations To Scientific Research Projects
Six months after halting a study of moderate drinking that was underwritten by donations from the alcohol industry, the National Institutes of Health outlined a series of steps to prevent similar conflicts of interest and to safeguard the integrity of its research and its reputation. In a report issued on Thursday, N.I.H. officials said its 27 institutes must evaluate all current research projects that receive private donor support for conflicts of interest of the kind that compromised the alcohol trial. The institute directors are to report their findings to Dr. Francis Collins, director of N.I.H., early next year. (Rabin, 12/13)
In other news on NIH —
Stat:
NIH Report Scrutinizes Role Of China In Theft Of U.S. Scientific Research
Institutions across the U.S. may have fallen victim to a tiny fraction of foreign researchers who worked to feed American intellectual property to their home countries, an advisory committee to the National Institutes of Health found in a report issued Thursday. The report zeroed in on China’s “Talents Recruitment Program,” which the Pentagon has previously identified as an effort “to facilitate the legal and illicit transfer of US technology, intellectual property and know-how” to China. (Facher, 12/13)
