| 4. A faculty member hires a student to work as a research assistant on a project that is completely funded by a pharmaceutical company. |
| # | Response Date | Comment |
| 1. | Mon, 2/26/07 10:14 PM | on whether the student is educated as to what that means |
| 2. | Tue, 3/13/07 10:51 PM | Depends on the circumstances. That statement alone seems reasonable. Would the project fund the student's time? |
| 3. | Tue, 3/13/07 10:52 PM | As long as the funding is not determinant upon the outcome of the research (i.e., as long as both the faculty member and the student feel free to honestly share the unbiased results of their research without negative repercussions from the pharmaceutical company), then I do not see a COI. If continuing funding for the lab is at all dependent on positive research being generated for the pharmaceutical company's use, then there is a very serious COI. |
| 4. | Tue, 3/13/07 11:00 PM | Would the student be informed about the source of his/her compensation? Would the faculty member also be in a position to evaluate that student in a different setting? |
| 5. | Tue, 3/13/07 11:57 PM | Not sure what this means. If the grant is paying for the student and it is in the budget,there would not seem to be aproblem. |
| 6. | Wed, 3/14/07 12:08 AM | I'm tempted to say small COI for the student; although the professor might be facing a more serious dilemma. |
| 7. | Wed, 3/14/07 12:09 AM | the quality of the research protocol, scrutiny of the protocol, etc. |
| 8. | Wed, 3/14/07 12:10 AM | Depends on whether it has strings attached - pharmaceutical company must have no control over how the research is done or reported. |
| 9. | Wed, 3/14/07 12:23 AM | depends on what the research is in. if it's on a drug that that pharmaceutical company will profit from and they're trying to make data to support their drug, then yes, it's a COI |
| 10. | Wed, 3/14/07 12:54 AM | Depends on whether this is investigator initiated, if it is really marketing research, whether the investgator has financial relationships with the company beyond direct salary support for the project (assuning it is a fair representation of time); etc., etc., etc. |
| 11. | Wed, 3/14/07 12:56 AM | Is the student aware of the funding source and is it by choice? |
| 12. | Wed, 3/14/07 1:01 AM | Is the data in any way influenced by the pharmaceutical company? If no, the COI is small |
| 13. | Wed, 3/14/07 1:38 AM | It depends on what drugs are being tested |
| 14. | Wed, 3/14/07 2:44 AM | Are they the best candidate? If yes, then there is no COI. If they aren't and they are still hired, then it would be a moderate COI. |
| 15. | Wed, 3/14/07 1:48 PM | Who (unversity or company) pays for the student and at what rate compared to what other student employees or company employees are paid for similar work.
Also, whether or not student is performing work above competency level for the project. |
| 16. | Wed, 3/14/07 1:50 PM | The student should know the source of the funds used to hire him/her |
| 17. | Wed, 3/14/07 2:04 PM | OK if disclosure |
| 18. | Wed, 3/14/07 3:56 PM | Does the faculty member eventually receive some sort of kick-back (monetary, free meds, event tickets, etc) as an incentive/"thank you" for providing a "cheap labor resource"? If not, No COI. I yes, Very serious COI. |
| 19. | Wed, 3/14/07 7:51 PM | If the student is question is subject to a grade from the faculty member at the time of employment, then there could be a halo/horn effect carrying over from the job to the grade. |
| 20. | Wed, 3/14/07 7:57 PM | Does the faculty member get personal compensation |
| 21. | Wed, 3/14/07 8:20 PM | depends on if the research includes their drug and could not be blinded |
| 22. | Wed, 3/14/07 8:28 PM | upon the type of study, whether or not the student is being promised a publication, payment, or other potentially coersive promises |
| 23. | Wed, 3/14/07 10:15 PM | If the student is aware of the conflict of interest |
| 24. | Thu, 3/15/07 4:56 PM | It depends on whether or not the faculty has any financial interest in the company or from their relationships with the company. If not, NO; if yes; MODERATE. |
| 25. | Fri, 3/16/07 2:14 PM | No COI as long as disclosure is upfront and ongoing. |
| 26. | Sat, 3/17/07 1:27 PM | Unless the issue is apriori problematic because of the funding source I do not see a major problem with this unless there are other issues tied to the nature of the research. |
| 27. | Sat, 3/17/07 4:19 PM | It depends on what the research is attempting to elucidate, and what financial impact the results would have on the pharmaceutical company |
| 28. | Mon, 3/19/07 5:23 PM | If the professor is using university money to do private work, that's embezzlement. Don't even bother with COI there. |
| 29. | Mon, 3/19/07 8:12 PM | Many studies are funded by pharmaceutical companies, the difference is whether or not the study is conducted in an objective and scientific manner with no "fluffing" of data to make results seem favorable. |
| 30. | Mon, 3/19/07 9:08 PM | Depends on level of control pharm company has over study, the contact student has with the company, etc. |
| 31. | Wed, 3/21/07 10:34 PM | on any associations the faculty/student has with pharmaceutical industry (prescribing, stock options, etc...) |
| 32. | Tue, 4/24/07 1:34 AM | Depends on whether the funding source dictates the research or not. |
| 33. | Tue, 4/24/07 1:27 PM | If the faculty not only disclosed this but took time to explain the pros and cons of the situation, it could be a learning experience |
| 34. | Tue, 4/24/07 1:45 PM | If the student is paid by the pharm co directly or if the funds come from pharm co via faculty, no COI (but full disclosure must be made). If student is paid by univ funds, moderate COI. |
| 35. | Tue, 4/24/07 6:46 PM | It depends on the conditions of the contract or proposal. If faculty and student are free to design, implement and report all data in public accessible peer-reviewed journals based on the best science available, regardless of any positive or negative outcomes, then there should be no major conflict of interest, providing they do not obtain any financial gains from the company such as stocks etc.. However, if the science can not be reviewed by autonomous peers from the scientific community, then the results will always be severely compromised in placed in doubt. |
| 36. | Tue, 4/24/07 9:32 PM | Depends on the structure of the research agreement, which could be structured in a way to avoid a COI. |
| 37. | Tue, 4/24/07 10:28 PM | No COI if student is appropriately compensated for work done. |
| 38. | Thu, 4/26/07 9:14 PM | No COI if this student is not taking a course from this faculty member and being graded by this faculty member. |
| 39. | Mon, 4/30/07 11:09 PM | If the research asst is only working on research pertinent to the pharmaceutical company it is ok. |