New Members Appointed To Human Research Protections National Advisory Committee

New Members Appointed To

Human Research Protections National Advisory Committee

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt has appointed two new members to the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections (SACHRP).

Incoming SACHRP member Barbara E. Bierer, M.D., senior vice president for research, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of medicine and pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, will also serve as the committee chair.  Incoming member David G. Forster, J.D., M.A., C.I.P., is vice president, Office of Compliance, Western Institutional Review Board.

“The expertise of these individuals will help HHS maintain the highest standards of ethical human research,” Secretary Leavitt said.  “Their contributions will strengthen and enhance the network of protections for all who volunteer to participate in HHS-funded research studies.”

The 11-member committee, which meets three times a year, is composed of leaders in human subject protections and/or the conduct of human subject research.  Its members provide recommendations to the Secretary on the responsible conduct of research involving human subjects.

The members are responsible for reviewing and evaluating the activities of the Office for Human Research Protections and other offices and agencies within HHS that are responsible for human subject protection in biomedical and behavioral research.

The SACHRP committee also offers advice and recommendations on policy and program development, program implementation, evaluation and other matters of significance to the human research-related mission and goals of HHS.

The new members are:

Barbara E. Bierer, M.D.; senior vice president for research, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Bierer, a graduate of Harvard Medical School, has devoted much of her career to improving professional and institutional standards for safeguarding and protecting research participants, through her work at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Bierer is also president of the board of directors of the Association for Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs. 

David G. Forster, J.D., M.A., C.I.P.; vice president, Office of Compliance, Western Institutional Review Board.  David Forster has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Washington School of Law and a master’s degree in medical ethics from the University of Washington, Department of Medical History and Ethics.  Mr. Forster has extensive experience with both academic and independent institutional review boards (IRB).  In addition to these responsibilities he also provides human subject protections training to IRB members, investigators, and foreign regulators interested in human subjects protections. 

More information about the work of SACHRP is available at http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/sachrp/.

Note: All HHS press releases, fact sheets and other press materials are available at http://www.hhs.gov/news.