The office of Research Outreach and Compliance is responsible for ensuring that the grants management record reflects that all research conducted at Memorial Sloan Kettering adheres to prevailing compliance regulatory rules and regulations. All protocol and approval information relating to the use of human or animal research subjects, biosafety pathogens, and human embryonic or pluripotent stem cells, as well as projects that potentially present financial conflicts of interest, must be accurately recorded in the sponsored research record.

The office works closely with the Office of Research and Project Administration and the appropriate institutional compliance committees or offices listed below to ensure that the compliance information is accurate and complete before allowing the expenditure of any funds related to research activities.

Institutional Review Board

The Institutional Review Board, or IRB, is responsible for protecting the rights and welfare of human research participants. The federal government requires each institution to have such a board and regulates the policies and procedures that they must follow.

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

As federally mandated by provisions in the Animal Welfare Act and the Health Research Extension Act of 1985, Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee is charged with oversight of our Animal Care and Use Program. The committee meets monthly to review all proposed research activities involving animals to assure that all projects are conducted in accordance with established federal and institutional policies and guidelines, and by staff who have appropriate skills and training.

Environmental Health and Safety and Institutional Biosafety Committee

The Environmental Health and Safety Department and the Institutional Biosafety Committee have developed a process to ensure that laboratories meet federal, state, and local laboratory safety requirements including the National Institutes of Health Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules. This process also streamlines institutional compliance requirements and reduces duplicative submission efforts for research with recombinant DNA (rDNA) and other biohazardous agents.

Tri-Institutional Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee

Research operating procedures have been developed by the administrations of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Rockefeller University, and Weill Cornell Medical College to ensure that research involving human embryonic stem cells and covered human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) research is conducted in a manner consistent with established regulatory and institutional requirements at the three institutions. “Covered” hPSC research is defined as all research involving the transplantation of hPSCs into animals at any stage of development or maturity, or the use of hPSC in in vitro experiments expected to yield gametes (oocytes or sperm).

Corporate Compliance Office

Collaboration between academic health professionals and the private sector provides many societal, institutional, and individual benefits. At the same time, these relationships can give rise to conflicts of interest or conflicts of commitment. Such conflicts may compromise – or appear to compromise – the integrity and objective of research, education and patient care, and undermine public trust in our work. Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Policy on Financial Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment is designed to assist employees in identifying and managing situations that can give rise to conflicts.

AAHRPP Accreditation

MSK has been awarded accreditation by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) at the December 2016 meeting of its Council on Accreditation. AAHRPP promotes high-quality, ethically sound research through an accreditation process that helps organizations worldwide strengthen their human research protection programs.