As a research organization, CU produces innovations and ideas that shape industry and academia. The necessary outreach activities that inevitably accompany research and development leadership bring with them the potential for Conflicts of Interest (COI). COI occurs when the researcher has a personal connection or past experience that could compromise their motivation for or the integrity of their research.

The Office of Regulatory Compliance (ORC) at CU Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus manages the annual COI disclosure process, which includes monitoring and reviewing thousands of COI disclosure forms annually. Regular faculty members are required to submit financial disclosures. Additionally, there are non-faculty staff and affiliates who are required to submit disclosures. Thousands of faculty and research projects and protocols may be subject to federal COI regulations, as well as the CU Denver|AMC COI policy.

Financial information must be disclosed during the annual disclosure period. The UIS eRA team partners with the ORC to provide the data showing the list of researchers who must disclose on the CU Denver|AMC campuses. The team reviews how the data is queried to determine if the reporting process can be improved. During this disclosure cycle’s report review, the team discovered that the original data query would have resulted in completion of many more financial disclosures than actually required by federal regulations and campus policy. After aligning the report with the letter of the requirements, the ORC determined there were thousands fewer faculty and staff that needed to complete a financial disclosure for the 2016 disclosure period! The result – significantly reduced follow-up requirements for the team and the department administrators they partner with to ensure that all needed disclosure forms are completed. This means more time for each researcher and administrative team to focus on the university’s research. 

Interested in learning more about COI at CU Denver|AMC? Take a look at the ORC website.