Committees | Office of Research

The Office of Research works with a number of committees to facilitate communication about the research enterprise and infrastructure.

In order to facilitate communication between the SOM Administration and research investigators, the OoR meets regularly with a variety of faculty leaders, e.g. Basic Science Chairs and Center Directors. To give faculty multiple venues of communication the OoR also works with a number of advisory committees that deal with Core Facilities, Division of Comparative Medicine (formerly DLAM), Planning and other research infrastructure mechanisms. We encourage faculty to communicate with these committees with suggestions for improvement, to bring attention to a recurring problem or acknowledge improvements.

Conflict of Interest Committtee

The SOM Conflict of Interest Committee (COIC) works with the UNC COI Program to review individual COI disclosures from any SOM personnel. The committee is composed of faculty engaged in basic and clinical research. Part of the charge for the COIC is to ensure compliance with the UNC COI Policy, the GA Policy and federal sponsor regulations. Disclosures are submitted online. The COIC meets the first Tuesday of the month. Please contact Joy Bryde, UNC COI Director, or Jennifer Brennan if you have questions about the policy or your disclosure. The SOM COIC and UNC Compliance Office will work with investigators to manage COIs within the regulations of the applicable policies.
Under the UNC COI Policy, everyone [faculty, trainees and lab staff] engaged in research at UNC must take the online COI training course. This training is required every 4 years.

Disclosures are submitted online at at air.unc.edu

Core Facilities Advocacy Committee

The Core Facilities Advocacy Committee reports to the School of Medicine Vice Dean for Research. The committee is chaired by the Assistant Dean for Core Technologies.
Reviewing the scientific and operational status of cores is a major function of the committee. The committee includes faculty members chosen for their expertise in specific categories of technology and for their interest in strengthening core facilities at UNC. Current categories, each advocating for multiple cores, include 1) Animal Models and Phenotyping, 2) Biochemistry, 3) Clinical/Translational, 4) Genomics and 5) Imaging. Committee members work directly with core facility directors to evaluate and recommend upgrading of technology and to ensure high-quality services and user satisfaction. The committee reviews requests and makes recommendations for expenditures for core facilities, including the purchase of new equipment.
The role of CFAC includes advising the Vice Dean of Research on equipment needs and development of new core facility technologies, space allocation, and the expansion, sunsetting, and consolidation of existing cores.
Please visit the Core Facilities website for more information.

Division of Comparative Medicine Advisory Committee

The DCM Advisory Committee is composed of faculty from across campus who are engaged in animal models research. The committee meets regularly with the DCM Director and vets to discuss needs and operational methods. This allows DCM to assess the impact of changes in per diem, daily operational routines, etc. on the research community before these changes are implemented. Advice from the DCM AC is regularly incorporated to lessen the impact of changes. Conversely, the DCM AC can bring faculty issues [both problems and successful solutions] to the attention of DCM. Finally the DCM AC is an advocate to senior UNC leaders on behalf of DCM. If there is something you would like to bring to the attention of the DCM AC, please contact Jennifer Brennan.

Radioactive Drug Research Committee

If your study utilizes radiopharmaceuticals to address basic science questions, an IND is not necessary. Instead, your study will be reviewed/approved by the Radioactive Drug Research Committee (RDRC). in this case approval by the Radiation Safety Subcommittee (RSS) is not required.
For information on the RDRC, please contact Dede Corvinus.
Visit the RDRC page