Instruction in Responsible Conduct of Research
Currently, all research trainees, including predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees at the University of
Rochester, are required to complete and pass a course in the Ethics and Professional Integrity in Research.
Two courses are offered in parallel in the first semester: IND501: Ethics in Research (Instructor: David
Pearce, PhD), is designed for basic science trainees; IND 503: Ethics and Professional Integrity in Research
is designed for clinical and translational science trainees. The two courses provide the same core of 6 lectures
and then split off for discussion groups/case studies on use of animals in research (IND 501) or protection of
human subjects (IND 503). The syllabus for this course is shown in Appendix II. The instructor is Gary
Chadwick, DPharm, Professor of Community and Preventive Medicine and Director of the Office of Human
Subjects Protection. This course is considered a minimum requirement for this broad and important topic.
Several enhancements to this important instruction will be encouraged. First, regarding ethical treatment of
research subjects, all trainees will complete the on-line course: “Protection of Human Subjects in Research”
and receive Human Subjects Protection Program (HSPP) Certification. Second, the Skill-Building Workshop:
“Recruitment and Retention of Research Subjects” is considered to be a second course in the series following
IND 503 and will be required, dealing with ethics during the recruitment of human research subjects. Third, the
Workshop: “Research Program Administration” has several components specifically dealing with compliance
with ethical standards in research, conflict of interest, etc. (See Syllabus in Appendix II). Postdoctoral trainees
must complete this program. Finally, one Clinical and Translational Research Seminar of each month is given
to the Office of Human Subjects Protection (G. Chadwick, PhD, Director) to update attendees as to new ethical
and regulatory issues in Clinical Research, as the continuing education component to Instruction in responsible
conduct of research. Finally, individual lectures which deal with issues of ethics and scientific integrity are
incorporated into required coursework such as PM415, Introduction to Epidemiology, and PM438, Practical
Skills in Grant Writing.