Federal audit finds UW ethics intact for human subjects

After slamming the lid on human subjects research at eight other universities for infractions big and small, the federal agency that enforces federal regulations that pertain to volunteer subjects paid a much-anticipated site visit to UW–Madison last week.

But instead of shutting down research programs en masse, as has been the case at nearly every other university visited by auditors from the Office for Human Research Protections, the agency issued a report that, in many instances, was glowing by comparison to the reviews received by other universities.

To be sure, the review was not without some negative findings citing, for example, some record-keeping issues and research involving prison populations that was not reviewed with the help of a prisoner advocate as a voting member of the review board.

But the gist of the report was generally positive, and included references to “a culture of respect” for the oversight process for human subjects on the Madison campus, and it acknowledged efforts over the past two years to “enhance (the UW–Madison) system for protecting human subjects…”

“We worked very hard in anticipation of the review,” says R. Timothy Mulcahy, an associate dean of the Graduate School and the chair of UW–Madison’s all-campus Institutional Review Board, the panel responsible for overseeing human subjects protection and policy on the Madison campus. “I think we were able to impress upon them the fact that we care a great deal about the ethical treatment and protection of human subjects, and that we provide effective institutional oversight of human subjects activities.”

The report was delivered Aug. 11 to Chancellor David Ward.