May 25, 2001

Draft VA Human Research Accreditation Standards Available for Comment

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) May 23 published a notice in the Federal Register [66 FR 28597] announcing that the draft standards for the VA Human Research Protection Accreditation Program (VAHRPAP) are available for public comment on the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Web site. Last year, the VA awarded NCQA a five-year contract to conduct an accreditation program to ensure the protection of human research subjects in all VA-sponsored research by accrediting the Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) that approve the research protocols. The standards are designed to apply to VA facilities that operate their own IRBs, those that operate an IRB jointly with an affiliated university, and those that delegate IRB functions to the affiliated university's IRB. Public comments are due to NCQA by June 1. Final standards will be released on June 30 based on the public comments and pilot tests conducted in April and May of this year.

Information: Jonathan Fishburn, AAMC Office of Governmental Relations, 202-828-0525.