FEATURE

Baystate Human Research Protection Program Achieves Full Accreditation by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs

Celebration Reception July 21 11:30 - 1:00 in Chestnut 1

On June 11, 2010, following a rigorous application process, Baystate joined the ranks of 214 other organizations worldwide, such as Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital Boston, that have earned AAHRPP accreditation.

"Accreditation puts us in a favorable position in an increasingly competitive and regulated field," states Karen Christianson, RN, CCRP, Director, HRPP." Industry sponsors and CROs have begun to preferentially select AAHRPP accredited organizations as their research partners." In addition, Ms. Christianson feels that accreditation provides assurance to research participants that Baystate is committed to "doing the right thing and doing it well."

Baystate Human Research Protection Program Front: Ann Marie Collins, Karen Christianson, Marybeth Kennedy, Jennifer Pacheco Back: Lisandra Gonzalez, Teresa Toyfair

Learning From the Accreditation Process

Baystate's Step 1 application was submitted in September 2009, but the process began about 2 years earlier with the convening of an internal committee charged with examining the existing program and the accreditation process. An expert consultant was engaged in 2008 Baystate Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) was formally established in the Spring of 2009. According to Ms. Christianson, the process revealed that "we were doing many things right, but inconsistently."

Since then, the Baystate HRPP has undergone revisions to bring it in line with accepted best practices. As a result, both site visitors in April 2010 had praise for the HRPP, commenting on the high level of engagement of Baystate's research community, and were particularly impressed with its understanding that the HRPP is more than just the IRBs, and the commitment to best practices throughout the research community.

The Process Continues

Baystate's initial accreditation is for 3 years, during which annual reports are submitted. If re-accreditation is granted, the time frame for re-application extends out to 5 years.

AAHRPP is an independent, non-profit accrediting body, whose mission is to promote excellent, ethically sound research by accrediting high-quality human research protection programs.