A national non-profit association seeking to raise the standards of protection for medical research participants has given full accreditation to University Hospitals Case Medical Center. The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP) accredits organizations that can demonstrate they provide participant safeguards that surpass state and federal requirements.
Through the intensive accreditation process, organizations demonstrate that extensive safeguards are built into every level of their research operation. AAHRPP standards exceed federal regulations in two ways: the protections for research participants that the federal government requires only for federally sponsored or regulated research are extended to all research, plus AAHRPP requires additional protections, such as conflict-of-interest rules and community education. Accreditation is valid for three years. UH becomes one of 66 organizations nationally with full AAHRPP accreditation.
“This is a major achievement and due recognition for UH research programs,” said Philip Cola, vice president for research and technology at University Hospitals Case Medical Center. “The site visitors that reviewed us noted that University Hospitals has a genuine commitment to the mission of the human research protection program, and that our research monitoring and education programs are highly impressive. It was noted that University Hospitals Case Medical Center met individual standards with distinction,” he said.
He explained that accreditation uses a set of objective standards to evaluate the quality and level of protection that an organization provides to research participants. “Through accreditation, UH has demonstrated overall excellence in its research programs by providing the most comprehensive protections for participants,” he said.