Attached are two documents (a conflicts assessment sheet and an
official duty table) which together lay out the NIH policy on
official duty interaction with outside organizations. A conflict may
arise with respect to an official duty matter if you have two
competing interests in that matter - the interest associated with
your NIH duties and your own personal interest. This policy requires
you to personally engage in the conflicts review process with respect
to your official duty activities. You are responsible for: 1)
identifying any real or apparent conflicts that may arise from your
official duty interactions with organizations with which you have
personal outside interests or relationships; 2) resolving the
identified conflicts with your Deputy Ethics Counselor (DEC) and/or
supervisor; and 3) securing prior approval from the proper source, if
necessary.
The first document, the conflict assessment sheet (Attachment
1), helps you identify real or apparent conflicts that may arise
from official duty interactions with outside organizations because
you also have a personal outside interest or relationship with that
organization. For example, if you wish to collaborate with an
industry researcher and you own stock in that company, you must
contact your DEC to resolve the conflict - you have a personal
financial interest in a matter in which you want to participate -
before proceeding with that collaboration. This conflict might be
resolved by reducing your stock holding to below the de minimis level
(currently, $15,000). As another example, if you wish to give an
official duty speech at a grantee institution even though you were
employed by that institution within the last year, you should discuss
the matter with your DEC who may issue an authorization to permit you
to give that speech. As a final example, you should consult with your
DEC if you want to help plan a professional society's annual meeting
in your official capacity even though you serve as the chair of the
society's awards committee in your personal capacity. Again, your DEC
may grant you an authorization to do so.
Many official duty matters may not give rise to a conflict because
you do not have any personal outside interests or relationships with
the outside organization involved in that matter. For example, if you
wish to collaborate with a researcher from a grantee institution,
provided that you are not on a leave of absence from that grantee
institution, you do not have prospective employment arrangements with
that institution and your spouse, significant other or business
partner is not employed by that institution, there is no real or
apparent conflict to resolve. Hence, you are free to engage in that
collaboration unless prior approval is required as noted in the
attached table. Your DEC is available to help determine if you have a
conflict.
The second document, the official duty table (Attachment
2), lists examples of many different official duty activities
that you might engage in with an outside organization. You will see
that most of these activities only require supervisory approval. Such
approval may be given after any self-identified conflict that would
arise from a personal outside interest or relationship has been
resolved with the help of your DEC.
In sum, this policy clarifies your responsibilities to carefully
consider the parties involved in the activity, and determine whether
a conflict (real or apparent) would arise from your involvement in
the matter. If you have any questions, contact your DEC. If no
conflict is present, then you may proceed to engage in the activity
unless prior approval is required as noted in the table.