NIH finally takes on conflicts

After several months of intense scrutiny, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is considering stricter rules on managing financial conflicts among its grantees. The research and funding body put out a call for comments on changing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conflict of interest rules via an linkurl:entry;http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-10666.pdf in the Federal Register on Friday (May 8). The rules under consideration would involve all applicants for funding f

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share
After several months of intense scrutiny, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is considering stricter rules on managing financial conflicts among its grantees. The research and funding body put out a call for comments on changing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conflict of interest rules via an linkurl:entry;http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-10666.pdf in the Federal Register on Friday (May 8). The rules under consideration would involve all applicants for funding from the Public Health Service (PHS), of which the NIH is a component. Other agencies under the PHS umbrella include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Indian Health Service. The regulation changes the NIH is considering include expanding disclosure rules to applicants seeking PHS funding through the government's Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs, and mandating that all funding applicants disclose all significant financial conflicts instead of disclosing only those $10,000 per year or greater. Potential changes also include requiring institutions with 50 or more employees to form independent conflict of interest committees, and requiring all grantee institutions to submit "conflict management plans." The current rules, which were published in 1995, place the onus of rooting out and reporting financial conflicts among researchers with those scientists' home institutions. The NIH states in the Federal Register that "we are considering whether to revise the current regulations to provide Institutions with a more comprehensive set of guidelines," to assure integrity in federally-funded science. The NIH seeks advice from the "general public, individual Investigators, scientific societies and associations, Members of Congress, other Federal agencies that support or conduct research, and institutions that receive PHS funds to conduct or support biomedical or behavioral research." Comments can be submitted up until July 7 electronically linkurl:(here);http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=090000648098854b or sent to an NIH office in Rockville, Maryland.
**__Related stories:__***linkurl:NIH may start policing conflicts;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55400/
[5th February 2009]*linkurl:NIH to act on conflicts within 1 year;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55264/
[5th December 2008]*linkurl:Should conflicts mean no NIH grant?;http://www.the-scientist.com/blog/display/55058/
[29th September 2008]
Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Bob Grant

    From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer.
Share
Image of a woman in a microbiology lab whose hair is caught on fire from a Bunsen burner.
April 1, 2025, Issue 1

Bunsen Burners and Bad Hair Days

Lab safety rules dictate that one must tie back long hair. Rosemarie Hansen learned the hard way when an open flame turned her locks into a lesson.

View this Issue
Conceptual image of biochemical laboratory sample preparation showing glassware and chemical formulas in the foreground and a scientist holding a pipette in the background.

Taking the Guesswork Out of Quality Control Standards

sartorius logo
An illustration of PFAS bubbles in front of a blue sky with clouds.

PFAS: The Forever Chemicals

sartorius logo
Unlocking the Unattainable in Gene Construction

Unlocking the Unattainable in Gene Construction

dna-script-primarylogo-digital
Concept illustration of acoustic waves and ripples.

Comparing Analytical Solutions for High-Throughput Drug Discovery

sciex

Products

Atelerix

Atelerix signs exclusive agreement with MineBio to establish distribution channel for non-cryogenic cell preservation solutions in China

Green Cooling

Thermo Scientific™ Centrifuges with GreenCool Technology

Thermo Fisher Logo
Singleron Avatar

Singleron Biotechnologies and Hamilton Bonaduz AG Announce the Launch of Tensor to Advance Single Cell Sequencing Automation

Zymo Research Logo

Zymo Research Launches Research Grant to Empower Mapping the RNome