At a Capitol Hill press conference on May 23, seven research and university organizations, including COSSA, launched the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP). Joining the Consortium in this effort are the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Association of American Universities, the Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology, the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges, the National Health Council, and Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM*R).

With the human research participants protection system under scrutiny from many different groups, one issue that has gained attention is the desire to accredit these systems and the Institutional Review Boards that are their backbones (see Update, February 26, 2001 and the NBAC story in the June 4, 2000 issue).

AAHRPP hopes to provide increased credibility through voluntary assessments and accreditation. Working with human protection entities, it will provide guidelines for successful implementation of best practices for protecting participants in research. The new group is currently reviewing standards for the accreditation and is searching for an executive director.

COSSA joined the group to ensure that the social and behavioral sciences are represented in the discussions that continue to surround this important subject. As Executive Director Howard J. Silver noted at the AAHRPP Press Conference, "Too often the framework [for human participant protection] emphasizes biomedical-clinical research and fails to adequately consider its application to social and behavioral science research, for which a more appropriate framework would better serve both science and the participants." The social and behavioral sciences will have at least three representatives on AAHRPP's 21 person board expected to be appointed on June 13. The Board, which will also include five representatives of the public, will be independent of the seven founding groups in its accreditation decisions.

AAHRPP will pilot test its accreditation standards in the Fall and expects to begin its full accreditation operations early in 2002.

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