UW News

November 21, 2002

Conflicts of interest will be Dec. 3 topic

Michael Corn, director of research and industry relations support in the School of Medicine’s Office of Research and Graduate Education, will speak on research-related conflicts of interest at the next program in the series on “Things Your Mother Never Taught You,” sponsored by the School of Medicine’s Office of Industry Relations and the UW Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer.

Corn will speak on “Researcher Financial Interests and Conflict-of-Interest Management” from 2 to 3 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 3, in room D-209, Turner Auditorium, at the Health Sciences Center. The presentation is open to everyone. Corn will be introduced by Dr. Susan Wray, director of industry relations for the School of Medicine.

Corn will review some of the national and local developments that have made research-related conflicts of interest a hot topic, and will also discuss existing UW policies and practices. While much of the attention has been focused on clinical research involving human subjects, conflict management in other types of research will be part of the presentation.

He also plans to refer to reports released within the past year by the American Association of Medical Colleges and the American Association of Universities. Both address the need for universities and medical schools to protect participants in research studies and to manage potential conflicts of interest from both researchers and institutions. Corn will also talk about basic conflict-of-interest concepts and the implications that conflict management has for faculty members, particularly those who have relationships with private companies. There will be time for questions and answers at the end of the talk.

Some UW policies and requirements are more stringent than current federal standards, Corn notes, and UW faculty members are also required to comply with rules on outside employment and other aspects of the state’s ethics rules.

Corn, who has a law degree, joined the School of Medicine in February after working in the UW Provost’s Office of Research. He has been responsible for reviewing and advising on research-related conflicts of interest since he has been at the UW.

The final seminar in the series will be “Starting a Company While Working at the UW,” scheduled at 1 p.m., Friday, Jan. 10, in D-209. For more on the series, see the Web site at http://www.washington.edu/medicine/industry/activities.html