August 27, 2012

Dear Colleagues,

NIH and the Public Health Service have issued a new regulation concerning Conflict of Interest certification. The regulation expands those required to be certified and changes some of the thresholds for defining a conflict. In response to this new regulation UMDNJ has developed a brief, on-line training module.

THIS TRAINING IS MANDITORY as the compliance requirement is a federal requirement.

Under the new regulations, no grant may be submitted unless all people involved in the research project have completed this module. The Research Office will not sign off on any research project until all investigators (as defined by the policy) have taken the module and been certified. Therefore, we are asking to for all faculty involved in research or grant to please complete the module and send the OR an electronic copy.

In addition, any collaborators at other institutions are required to certify that they are also in compliance with the regulation. For folks in other institutions involved in the grant, or investigators not associated with UMDNJ, they (or the PI) will need to provide one of the following and return a copy electronically to the Office of Research:

1.  Contact IST to get a limited password in order to access the UMDNJ module

2.  Submit a copy of the certificate from their institution or confirmation of completion.

3.  Download and complete the “letter of intent” document (which will include language on COI compliance requirement)

This includes everybody involved in the research from Principle investigators to students. However, for students involved in a research component (not specifically a grant) they will still have to complete the COI requirement, but do not have to send a copy to the OR; only include along with their IRB packet.

The module is live and functional on the Compliance website http://ethics.umdnj.edu

At that website, users must log in to their Dashboard and will see a link to the COI module. Alternatively, there is a link to the module on the SHRP website. Or if you prefer you can access the module through the UMDNJ website, or directly at:

https://ethics.umdnj.edu/mtrxprod/Ethics_Apps/MATRIX/coitraining/umdnj_investigator_coipolicy/umdnj_investigator_coipolicy/player.html

When you complete the module there is a brief quiz. You must complete the quiz and select the Submit button which appears at the end of the slides. This submission goes to central administration. After you press “submit”, a certificate is generated and credit is documented in the training module.

Please forward to the SHRP-Office of Research electronically when you receive your certificate of completion of your module training or receive confirmation of your attendance at a live training by an official accounting for your attendance to:

Maria Constanten at

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me by e-mail at:

or

James Scheirer, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and

Special Assistant to the Dean