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Advisory Boards & Councils

The NIEHS director and scientific staff are advised by a number of advisory boards and councils made up of membership from the scientific community and the public, whose input is essential in guiding and reviewing the endeavors of the Institute. A brief description of these bodies and links to more information are below.

National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council

The NIEHS as an NIH institute that makes grant awards for research projects and training, must by law, maintain an appropriate council to review and recommend approval of the project before an award can be made. For the NIEHS, this role is served by the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council (NAEHSC) (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/orgstructure/boards/naehsc/index.cfm). The NAEHSC advises the secretary of HHS, through the director of NIH and the director of the NIEHS. Membership of the NAEHSC consists of a designee of the secretary of HHS, the NIH director, the NIEHS director, the chief medical officer of the Veteran's Administration, and the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs (or designees of such officers) as ex officio members; and eighteen members who are leaders in the fundamental sciences, medical sciences, education, and public affairs. One-third of the non-federal government members must be public members.

National Toxicology Program Advisory Board & Committees

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) (http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/index.cfm?objectid=72016466-BDB7-CEBA-F9B7C847BDEFF1BB) relies upon advice from external groups and ad hoc panels. The formal advisory committees to the program are linked below. In particular, the NTP Board of Scientific Counselors(http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/index.cfm?objectid=720164A4-BDB7-CEBA-F5B86E9B53D26DED) is a federally chartered advisory committee, whose members are appointed by the Secretary, HHS, that provides scientific advice to the director for the NTP, and evaluates the scientific merit of NTP intramural and collaborative programs. As needed, the program convenes Special Emphasis Panels(http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/index.cfm?objectid=720165BD-BDB7-CEBA-FD36EA921484E685) and Working Groups(http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/index.cfm?objectid=3E0B02FC-F1F6-975E-79A7D55D432A30CE) to address specific topics.

Institutional Review Board

The mandate of the NIEHS Institutional Review Board (IRB) (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/orgstructure/boards/irb/index.cfm) is to protect the rights and safeguard the welfare of human research subjects. Human subject research conducted at the NIH must meet high ethical and scientific standards. It must be designed, reviewed, approved, and implemented in accord with accepted ethical principles and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (45 CFR 46) and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (21 CFR 50 and 56) regulations for the protection of human subjects. The NIEHS IRB is part of the Human Subject Protection Program of the NIH.

Institutional Review Board Contacts

NIEHS IRB Chair
Marian Johnson-Thompson
Director, Education and Biomedical Research Development

Office of the Deputy Director
Tel (919) 541-4265
Fax (919) 541-2583
johnso21@niehs.nih.gov

NIEHS IRB Administrator
Jane M. Lambert

Office of Clinical Research
Tel (919) 541-5047
lambert@niehs.nih.gov

Institutional Review Board Links

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USA.gov Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health
This page URL: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/orgstructure/boards/index.cfm
NIEHS website: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/
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Last Reviewed: September 04, 2008