Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday, January 29, 2004 | 3:00 p.m. | 880th Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, Robert Black, William Eaton, Martha Hill, Edward Miller, and Donald Steinwachs.

Guests: Drs. Cecile Pickart and Nathaniel Pierce; and Ms Diane Glover.

Meeting Convened: Provost Steven Knapp convened the meeting at 3:00 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 879th meeting on December 18, 2003 were approved.

Remarks by the Provost

Provost Knapp welcomed Dr. Blum, new chair of the Department of Population and Family Health Sciences, to the Advisory Board.

Dr. Knapp commented that the busy Maryland legislative season is well underway, but that it is unclear how the State's large structural deficit will affect the University with respect to Sellinger and capital funds. The new Vice President and General Counsel has joined the University, and the new Vice President for Human Resources, who recently joined the University, will initially review the University benefits package. The search for the Dean of the School of Engineering continues, and a short list is being developed.

Remarks by the Dean

Dean Sommer updated the Advisory Board on the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting. He noted that the proportion of WEF panels and discussions related to "health" is presently approximately 15% and growing. Health is expected to be the principal theme of a future WEF meeting.

Remarks by the Faculty Senate

Dr. Weiner reported that revisions of the PPM on faculty titles have been circulated to the faculty and will be reviewed at a future COW meeting. He noted that the JHU Effort Reporting requirement has raised a number of important questions among the faculty.

Other Items

CHR Provisional Policy for Recruitment of Employees and Students as Volunteers in Johns Hopkins Research

Dr. Sommer commented that Dr. Pierce, chair of the School's IRB Executive Committee, will become the School's IRB institutional representative to the federal government.

Dr. Pierce remarked that the Executive Committee is now updating and revising IRB policies and procedures, but has asked that the Advisory Board approve one specific policy prior to its implementation. In 2002, a University-wide committee chaired by Dr. Ruth Faden proposed a policy regarding recruitment of Johns Hopkins employees and students in Johns Hopkins research programs, however the policy has not yet been finalized. Johns Hopkins Medicine has adopted an interim policy based on the recommendations of Dr. Faden's committee.

The School of Public Health IRB Executive Committee has recommended that the School provisionally adopt the Johns Hopkins Medicine policy for School of Public Health research until the University-wide policy is adopted. The salient policy issues relate to (1) avoiding coercion of employees and students to join studies while enabling them to participate if they so choose, and (2) protecting confidentiality and guarding against loss of confidentiality. Dr. Links commented that the request to finalize the School of Public Health IRB policy is in response to a specific research protocol that would be open to School employees and students. The University-wide policy is expected to be adopted in several months.

The Advisory Board approved the Johns Hopkins Medicine Policy for Recruitment of Employees and Students for School of Public Health protocols on a provisional basis until the University policy is adopted.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Fox

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Last updated 03Mar04 by dgips@jhu.edu