News / Education
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta Receives Research Accreditation from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs
With clinical research for children rising, the number of independent children’s hospitals awarded accreditation for their human research protection programs has increased nearly three-fold in 2009. Children's Healthcare of Atlanta was recently added to that list of accredited research programs.
Last week three children’s hospitals— Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Miami Children’s Hospital in Florida and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford joined four other organizations in receiving full accreditation status from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP).
“This accreditation speaks to Children's solid commitment to pediatric research and quality care for children in Georgia, the southeast region and beyond,” said Paul Spearman, M.D., Chief Research Officer for Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and Vice Chair of Research in the Department of Pediatrics, Emory School of Medicine. “Standards must be elevated for pediatric research, and this accreditation attests to Children’s very high standards for the ethical conduct of research involving children.”
AAHRPP is a non-profit organization that works with organizations that conduct human research to raise the level of protection for research participants. AAHRPP accredits organizations that can demonstrate they provide participant safeguards that surpass the threshold of state and federal requirements. AAHRPP’s standards exceed federal regulations by requiring organizations to address conflict of interest, to provide community outreach and education, and to apply the same stringent protections to all research involving human participants. (Under federal regulations, such protections are mandated only for federally sponsored or regulated research.)
The accreditation program utilizes a voluntary, peer-driven educational model. Through the rigorous accreditation process, organizations must demonstrate that they have built extensive safeguards into every level of their research operation and that they adhere to the highest standards for research.
Also this year, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta opened a state-of-the-art pediatric research center in partnership with EmoryUniversity and the Atlanta Clinical & Translational Science Institute (ACTSI) as well as appointing Paul W. Spearman, MD of EmoryUniversity, as Chief Research Officer.
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Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, a not-for-profit organization, is committed to enhancing the lives of children through excellence in patient care, research and education. Managing more than half a million patient visits annually at three hospitals and 16 neighborhood locations, Children’s is one of the largest clinical care providers for children in the country. Children’s offers access to more than 30 pediatric specialties and is ranked among the top children’s hospitals by Parents magazine and U.S.News & World Report. With generous philanthropic and volunteer support, Children’s has made an impact in the lives of children in Georgia, the United States and throughout the world. Visit www.choa.org for more information.
Contact:
Brant Rawls
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
404.785.7577
