VCU panel urges updating corporate research rules
A panel formed in the wake of a controversy over a consulting contract VCU entered with Philip Morris USA is recommending the college overhaul its rules on research deals with corporate sponsors.
A report released Wednesday by the task force of university administrators and professors said VCU should form a review committee to develops such policies.
A panel formed in the wake of a controversy over a consulting contract VCU entered with Philip Morris USA is recommending the college overhaul its rules on research deals with corporate sponsors.
A report released Wednesday by the task force of university administrators and professors said VCU should form a review committee to develops such policies.
The task force recommended VCU no longer enter “work-for-hire” research agreements, such as the arrangement it had with Philip Morris. Instead, research sponsored by corporations should be limited to contracts, grants, clinical trial agreements, material transfer agreements and nondisclosure agreements.
The report didn’t directly address critics’ calls for VCU to reject funding from tobacco companies for moral and ethical reasons, but recommended VCU form a separate review board to consider whether it is ethical to accept research money from specific industries.
Brief by The Associated Press
