Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, July 31, 2001 / 3 p.m. / 851st Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, John Breitner, Margaret Ensminger, Bernard Guyer, Robert Lawrence, Edward Miller, and Jonathan Samet.

Guest: Dr. Sharon Krag.

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

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 850th meeting on June 26, 2001 were approved.

Remarks by the Provost

Dr. Knapp summarized the background of allegations that a faculty member in the School of Arts and Sciences did not seek IRB approval to test an anti-cancer drug in Kerala, India. The story was first reported in the India press, and has also been reported locally. An internal investigation is now being conducted by Arts and Sciences, with a determination to be made by Dean McCarty. Dr. Knapp noted that the case of the research subject death raised criticisms of both the investigator and the IRB process, while in the new case in India, the investigator did not seek Hopkins IRB approval. Dr. Knapp noted that the role of the investigator is not yet clear and that it is important to preserve confidentiality and the presumption of innocence until the investigation has been concluded.

Remarks by the Dean

Dr. Sommer thanked Dr. Mitzner for serving as interim past- president of the Faculty Senate over the past year.

Dr. Sommer reported on the retreat of the deans of schools of public health, which focused on developing a vision and mission statement for the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH). The mission includes acknowledging that schools of public health are graduate institutions whose principal roles are to provide graduate education and professional education, conduct research, and perform service, broadly defined. ASPH believes that schools of public health do not have the responsibility to provide training for every person employed in health departments or health-related programs, in particular those without college degrees. Resources to provide that type of training must be provided externally and may be developed in partnership with community colleges or other institutions.

Dr. Yager then briefly reviewed the ASPH associate deans retreat in June, where an ASPH-wide alumni survey was considered, and educational competencies developed by the deans were reviewed. Dr. Yager felt that the competencies were too detailed and would not allow the unique expertise and niche of each school to be preserved, and might further accentuate the lack of commonality between academic public health institutions and the Council on Education for Public Health.

Dr. Krag outlined how the School's Committee on Human Research (CHR) will begin to review research protocols of faculty holding primary appointments in the BSPH that were approved by the JCCI or Bayview IRB and have now been halted. With the approval of the federal Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP), there are about 110 protocols that the BSPH IRB will review. A third IRB made up of current and former CHR members will meet to review these protocols and will be convened for as long as this process takes, no longer than several months. Dr. Knapp commented that one faculty member has been designated in each School of Medicine department to help prioritize protocols for re-review. In addition, a series of sessions will be offered by OHRP to provide additional education for BSPH faculty, staff, and students, including current IRB members. Dr. Krag commented that service on the School's IRB is an important faculty responsibility, while Dr. Knapp noted the responsiveness and willingness of faculty throughout the University to help out in reviewing protocols. Following an internal assessment to assure that the IRB review process in the School is in compliance with OHRP regulations, the OHRP will be invited to review our procedures.

Dr. Knapp noted that a separate site visit by the Food and Drug Administration will take place, and that duplicative processes for and resolution of human subjects issues between OHRP and the FDA will be avoided as much as possible. The size of the University's research enterprise is enormous, and continued growth is projected. The University needs to consider how the research enterprise can continue to grow while maintaining adequate oversight and resources for support.

Report of the Faculty Senate

Dr. Rose reported that the most recent Faculty Senate meeting included a report on the MPH Review recommendations, which led to a discussion about the best mechanisms to promote and increase faculty involvement in the program. Dr. Sommer noted that almost all nominations for members of the new MPH Executive Board have been forwarded and the MPH office is being reorganized. He reminded the Advisory Board that the MPH Program is very highly regarded internationally, and that the MPH Executive Board has been recommended specifically to assure a direct connection between the MPH Program and the departments.

Other Items

Follow-up of recommendations from the Department of International Health Review Report

Dr. Black reviewed the major recommendations of the 2000 Self Study and subsequent Review of the Department of International Health. Since the spring of 2000, the Department established a number of working groups and held a retreat. Subsequently the faculty arrived at consensus on the organization, administration, leadership and governance of the Department. As a result, the Department has reorganized its academic programs, will recruit a new academic administrator, will correct an imbalance in certain areas between the interests of students and the faculty available to teach and advise them, and will more aggressively seek training funds to support doctoral students. A policy relating faculty teaching and advising more directly to compensation has been developed. Dr. Black noted that the Vaccine Science academic track has been combined with the Disease Prevention and Control track, that the needs of the DrPH program in the Department must be better met, and that increased linkages to practice organizations need to be undertaken in a more structured manner.

There are now 4 distinct programs in the Department related to graduate training rather than to administration of sponsored projects. The programs are Disease Prevention and Control, Health Systems, Human Nutrition, and Social and Behavioral Interventions. Each will have an associate chair elected from among the more senior faculty for a 3 year term, with no limit on the number of terms an associate chair can serve. Dr. Black noted that the associate chairs will not have any formal financial responsibilities, but will be closely involved in mentoring junior faculty. A standing steering committee and budget committee will be instituted. Department accounting and budgeting will become more centralized, and a new department administrator has been recruited. In addition, an associate chair for curriculum will be named who will be responsible for departmental admissions and for the Department's role in the MPH and DrPH programs. All changes are expected to be in place by July 2002.

Dr. Sommer congratulated Dr. Black and the faculty of Department of International Health on their thoughtful and noteworthy response to the department review.

Request for authorization for the Dean or his designee to act on the Board's behalf in consultation with those Board members available during the summer month(s)

The Advisory Board approved this motion.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Fox

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Last updated 21Sep01 by dgips@jhu.edu