NIH Urges Institutions to Report Foreign Collaborations

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) sent a letter to more than 10,000 research institutions on August 20, 2018 expressing concern about “threats to the integrity of U.S. biomedical research” from foreign governments and asked institutions to help curb “unacceptable breaches of trust and confidentiality.” In the letter, NIH Director Francis Collins urged NIH grant applicants and awardees to “disclose all forms of other support and financial interests, including support coming from foreign governments or other foreign entities.” NIH is also investigating at least six cases in which NIH-funded investigators failed to disclose improper support from foreign governments. The letter reminded grant reviewers that they should not share proposal information with foreign entities and also encouraged research institutions to reach out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to get more information on the matter. At a Senate oversight hearing, Collins said “the robustness of the biomedical research enterprise is under constant threat” and “the magnitude of these risks is increasing.” He added that NIH has established a new Advisory Committee to help the agency make procedural modifications. The panel will appoint experts to develop robust methods to improve accurate reporting and mitigate security risks “while continuing NIH’s long tradition of collaborations with foreign scientists and institutions.” Acc...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news