NIH has simplified the Vertebrate Animals Section (VAS) of grant applications, cooperative agreements, and contract proposals to remove redundancy with IACUC review while meeting the requirements of the PHS Policy.   UMBC Investigators applying for PHS funding should review the NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-16-006 to learn more about the updated VAS requirements, the implementation schedule, and what has changed. 

UMBC Investigators applying for PHS funds are encouraged use the Worksheet for the Review of the Vertebrate Animal Section when developing protocol applications for review by the IACUC. This will ensure that what is being proposed for funding is consistent in the description the IACUC reviews and approves.

For more information see the NIH Vertebrate Animals Section webpage, or contact compliance@umbc.edu.

National Biosafety Stewardship Month is a period during which institutions, such as UMBC, are encouraged to focus  efforts on promoting awareness of investigator responsibilities and sustaining a culture of safety/responsibility in life science research.

 For more information and materials about biosafety stewardship, please click on the IBC website or contact Environmental Safety and Health at safety@umbc.edu or the ORPC at compliance@umbc.edu.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) issued on September 2, 2015 as a draft of the final rule intended to modernize, strengthen, and make more effective the current Federal regulations on protections of human subjects (the Common Rule).  The NPRM was published in the Federal Register on September 8, 2015 for public comment; comments must be received by 5:00 pm on December 7, 2015. 

There are plans to release several webinars that will explain the changes proposed in the NPRM, and a town hall meeting planned to be held in Washington, D.C. in October.  The ORPC will inform the campus community of the dates of these information sessions and will distribute comments and guidance from the IRB as it becomes available.

Check back regularly on the ORPC events page for more information.

The September 2, 2015 "Important" notice about the use of cloud services such as Box or Google may have led some to conclude both services are inherently and/or equally insecure under the University's data security classification below:

To clarify, Google is not approved for confidential data (levels 2 & 3 above). Since Google stores its data around the world and employs people around the world, ORPC and DoIT do not recommend that Google be used with export controlled data. By contrast, Box.com is approved for level 0, 1, and 2 data. This means that information such as SSNs and passport numbers can be stored in Box. While all Box.com data is currently stored in the USA, there is no guarantee that Box.com will always keep our data in the USA. There are also no guarantees that a foreign person will not be employed by Box.com and have an ability to access our data. Accordingly, Box.com is okay to use with data classified as level 0, 1, and 2, but we would would not recommend it for export controlled data. 

 

For more information, please consult UMBC’s policy for the protection of sensitive information as well as DoIT’s data use guidance for more information. You may also wish to consult with Mark Cather, UMBC's Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), who can be reached at 410.455.3783 or mark.cather@umbc.edu.