New Office of Research Compliance Established

We are pleased to announce the hiring of Michelle A. Van Gheem as the Director of Research Compliance, effective November 14, 2013. Ms. Van Gheem comes to UB with impressive experience in higher education as well the private sector. At Marquette University, she designed and directed the Office of Research Compliance, which assisted over 500 full-time faculty and students with submission protocols and research-related training. Ms. Van Gheem has also directed research and compliance in the healthcare industry. These impressive credentials indicate that she can provide greater efficiency and support for the UB research community in all matters of compliance and regulations.

The Director of Research Compliance will report to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, and oversee all aspects of compliance related to research. These include Responsible Conduct of Research, Intellectual, and Creative Activity; Export Controls; Financial Conflict of Interest; and Research Subjects Protection (Human Subjects and Animal Subjects).  The Director will work collaboratively with existing entities, such as the Department of Environmental Health and Safety in the management oversight of the Institutional Biosafety Committee, Radiation Safety Committee, and other laboratory safety programs, to ensure university compliance with federal and state regulations for all research activities. 

Our aim is to reduce wait time for navigating, and better communicate information about, our research compliance process. It is Ms. Van Gheem’s wide range of experience and expertise in successfully overseeing complex protocols and training in the public and private spheres that make her supremely qualified to accomplish this critical goal. She will have day-to-day oversight of responsible conduct, conflict of interest, and research subject protection. She will also help design and implement training programs related to research compliance that will benefit research faculty and staff, coordinate compliance committee transparency, oversee the university’s Financial Conflict of Interest reporting program, and serve as the primary liaison with federal agencies in matters of regulation.

The Office of Research Compliance, including the staff of the Institutional Review Boards (the Health Sciences IRB, the Social and Behavioral Sciences IRB and the Children and Youth IRB), the Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC) and Financial Conflicts of Interest will move to the Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.  This move will occur in the November/December timeframe. Telephone numbers of existing staff will remain the same.