Research compliance and integrity
Good Clinical Practice (GCP) is an international ethical and scientific quality standard for the design, conduct, performance, monitoring, auditing, recording, analyses and reporting of clinical trials that involve the participation of human subjects.
GCP is required for the anyone meeting the following definition: “All research team members including faculty, staff, students or other personnel listed on an IRB application for research meeting the definition of a clinical trial” See our policy on GCP for more information »
Washington University offers GCP Certification, a course designed to provide researchers with a basic understanding of the regulations and requirements for research using drugs or devices. Read more about GCP certification on the Washington University Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research website.
OVCR has instructions (pdf) for access on their website.
The P.I. Program is a confidential research integrity and professional training research program offered through the Bioethics Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine. Using a career-coaching model, the program offers personalized assessments, a group workshop, and post-workshop coaching calls to help researchers operate professionally in today’s complex environments.
Contact: integrity@wustl.edu
The NIH requires that all trainees, fellows, participants, and scholars receiving support through any NIH training, career development award (individual or institutional), research education grant, and dissertation research grant receive instruction in responsible conduct of research. For more details on this requirement see the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research NIH Update Overview. Below are two training options to comply with this requirement.
Institute of Clinical and Translational Science RCR Course
This course consists of a series of 1-hour face-to-face seminars on diverse topics pertaining to RCR. Topics will include: Conflicts of Interest, Human Subjects Protections, Animal Welfare, Research Misconduct, Mentor/Mentee Responsibilities and Relationships, Collaborative Research, Responsible Authorship and Publication, The Scientist as a Responsible Member of Society, Contemporary Ethical Issues in Biomedical Research, Environmental and Societal Impacts of Scientific Research, Data Management, Ownership, and Sharing. Learn more »
Ethical and Legal Issues in Clinical Research Course
The Master of Science in Clinical Investigation program offers a semester long for credit course on the Ethical and Legal Issues in Clinical Research as part of the degree program. The course is also available to open enrollment students. Current tuition rates apply.
Contact: brc@wustl.edu
This non-credit baring course is provided online by the National Institutes of Health and will be of interest to physicians, scientists, medical students, nurses, public health professionals, and all other health professionals planning a career in clinical research. Registration is free. For more details see the NIH IPPCR Course webpage.
- Runs online annually October to March.
- Textbook is available online for free from Bernard-Becker Library.
- Questions about the course can be directed to Daniel McAnally daniel.mcanally@nih.gov.
- Questions about the WashU remote site can be directed to crtcmsci@wustl.edu.
Other training opportunities
- Master’s degrees and graduate certificates
There are two master’s degrees at Washington University targeted at staff involved in the administration of clinical research:- Master of Science in Applied Health Behavior Research
- Master of Science in Clinical Research Management
- In addition to graduate degrees in the clinical research there are also certificate options.
- Open enrollment courses
Staff are also eligible to take individual courses from the above programs as an open enrollment student.