Washington, D.C., March 29, 2001--Bringing together the panoply of human subjects research stakeholders-clinical investigators, patient representatives, medical school, teaching hospital and university leaders, and those from industry, law and the media-the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has named 28 members to its Task Force on Financial Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Research. The body is charged with assessing current AAMC guidelines on conflict of interest, and with formulating new principles that address both individual investigator and institutional concerns.

AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., announced the formation of the Task Force last November at the AAMC Annual Meeting in Chicago. Today, he said, "This new Task Force addresses one of the most significant issues the Association and its members face-sustaining public trust in research in which both the investigators and their institutions may hold financial interests. We have lots of ground to cover and the stakes are high; the public's support for medical research may turn on the ability of the academic community to police itself in ways that are credible."

The Task Force Chair is William Danforth, M.D., chancellor emeritus of Washington University. "We have an excellent group with members who bring diverse perspectives to the task," said Dr. Danforth. "Our work is timely and important, especially because of the increased cooperation between business and academia, which brings with it new forms of financial rewards."

Importantly, the Task Force membership includes national leaders from patient groups. Martin Delaney, Founding Director of Project Inform, a San Francisco-based HIV/AIDS information and advocacy organization, said, "Putting patients' interests first-ahead of financial and product sponsors of clinical trials-is one of the most basic goals of patient activism. I worry that people with life threatening illnesses, who often lack the support of organized activism so common in the AIDS community, are left to fend for themselves in an environment heavily influenced by corporate and academic goals. I'm very grateful for the opportunity to address these concerns through this Task Force."

The Task Force anticipates completing its work in two years. It is charged with reviewing and updating the AAMC's 1990 guidelines on faculty conflicts of interest, and with developing a new set of principles for addressing institutional financial conflicts of interest in clinical research. As a starting point for its deliberations, the Task Force will consider the principles and guidelines recently developed by a group of prominent medical school leaders, convened by Harvard Medical School Dean Joseph B. Martin, M.D.

A list of the members of the Task Force on Financial Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Research follows.

Task Force on Financial Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Research

Chair
William Danforth, M.D. Chancellor Emeritus and Vice-Chairman Board of Trust, Washington University

Academic Leadership
Russel E. Kaufman, M.D. Vice Dean, Education and Academic Affairs, Duke University School of Medicine
Robert P. Kelch, M.D. Dean, University of Iowa College of Medicine
Mark R. Laret Chief Executive Officer, University of California, San Francisco, Medical Center
Joseph B. Martin, M.D., Ph.D. Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Edward D. Miller, M.D. Dean, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Paul G. Ramsey, M.D. Vice President, Medical Affairs, Dean, School of Medicine, University of Washington

Researchers
John Thomas Bigger, M.D. Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, Columbia University
Ronald Levy, M.D. Professor, School of Medicine, Stanford University
Charles P. O'Brien, M.D., Ph.D. Chief of Psychiatry, Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Vice Chair of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania
Savio Woo, Ph.D. Director and Professor, Institute for Gene Therapy, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Alastair J.J. Wood, M.D., Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, Professor of Medicine, Professor of Pharmacology, Division of Pharmacology, Departments of Medicine and Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Attorneys
Susan H. Ehringhaus, Esq.,Vice Chancellor and General Counsel, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Joan S. Leonard, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Dorothy K. Robinson, Esq., Vice President and General Counsel, Yale University

Ethicists
Jeffrey Kahn, Ph.D., M.P.H. Director, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota
Thomas H. Murray, Ph.D. President and Chief Executive Officer, The Hastings Center

Industry
Ginger Graham, Group Chairman, Guidant Corporation
Susan Hellmann, M.D. M.P.H., Chief Medical Officer, Genentech
Roger Porter, M.D., Vice President Clinical Research and Development, Wyeth-Ayerst Research

Journalists/Media
Frank Davidoff, M.D., Editor, Annals of Internal Medicine
Susan Dentzer, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
Marvin Kalb, Lecturer in Public Policy, Executive Director, Washington Office, Joan Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy, Trustees for Harvard University
Hedrick Smith, President, Hedrick Smith Productions, Inc.

Public/Patient Representatives
Martin J. Delaney Founding Director, Project Inform
Constance E. Lieber President, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
Hon. John E. Porter, Esq. Partner, Hogan and Hartson, LLP
Frances M. Visco, Esq. President, The National Breast Cancer Coalition

Staff
David Korn, M.D. Senior Vice President, AAMC Division of Biomedical and Health Sciences Research
Jennifer Kulynych, J.D., Ph.D. Director, AAMC Division of Biomedical and Health Sciences Research
Justin E. Bekelman Visiting Research Fellow, Student, Yale Medical School

Association of American Universities Liaison
Richard J. Turman Director of Federal Relations, Association of American Universities

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The Association of American Medical Colleges represents the 125 accredited U.S. medical schools; the 16 accredited Canadian medical schools; some 400 major teaching hospitals, including 74 Veterans Administration medical centers; 91 academic and professional societies representing nearly 88,000 faculty members; and the nation's 67,000 medical students and 102,000 residents.

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