Volume 23: No. 6, June 2009

Committee on Human Research - Call for Nominations

The Board of Scientific Affairs (BSA) is seeking nominations for a newly established APA continuing committee: Committee on Human Research (CHR).

The mission of this seven-member Committee is to facilitate research with human participants that complies with prevailing ethical principles and governmental regulations, and to examine issues regarding the formulation and implementation of such principles and regulations. Its purview encompasses such topics as confidentiality, decisional capacity, diversity of research populations, research dissemination, cross-disciplinary standards, international collaborations, and resource and data sharing. The new committee will also engage in educational and advocacy efforts in the realm of human research protections. One member of CHR will be selected from a slate developed jointly with the APA Ethics Committee and will serve as an active liaison to the Ethics Committee.

The membership of CHR will include psychological expertise across a wide range of research topics, populations, settings, and methodologies. The primary areas represented on the Committee are:

1. Applied research (including industrial-organizational, human factors, school, educational, and environmental research)

2. Cognitive research (including basic and translational research)

3. Community-based research (including cultural and ethnographic research)

4. Developmental/lifespan research (including infant, child, and aging research)

5. Intervention research (including behavioral, clinical, and organizational approaches)

6. Neuroscience (basic and translational, including psychopharmacology)

7. Social/personality and emotion research (including basic and translational research)

Furthermore, a strong effort will be made to ensure that at least one member of CHR has expertise in each of the following areas:

• specific populations (such as ethnic, racial, linguistic, and sexual minorities; children; older adults; prisoners; individuals with psychiatric disorders)
• health-related research
• ethical issues in genetics research
• international research issues

To ensure familiarity with current issues in human research protections, all members of CHR should be currently or recently engaged in research with human participants and have served on an institutional review board (IRB) or similar body.

Self-nominations are welcome. Nomination materials should include the following:

(a) a letter from the nominee indicating their willingness to serve and indicating which one (or more) of the seven primary areas listed above that the nominee could represent;

(b) a brief statement by the nominee describing their expertise, experience, and interests in contemporary human research protection issues;

(c) a current curriculum vitae.

Candidates selected by BSA will serve on the Committee for three years, and will be required to attend two Committee meetings per year in Washington, DC, with expenses reimbursed by APA, and to participate in conference calls.

Nomination materials should be received by no later than August 31, 2009. Please submit nominations via e-mail to Sangeeta Panicker.