Hospital Receives Human Research Accreditation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWTON-WELLESLEY HOSPITAL RECEIVES ACCREDITATION FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION PROGRAM

NEWTON, Mass. (August, 2007) – The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) has just awarded Newton-Wellesley Hospital with accreditation for its human research protection program. Newton-Wellesley’s program is one of only 75 organizations in the nation to receive accreditation by AAHRPP.

“This honor comes at a particularly important time given that we have doubled the size of our research program over the past three years,” said Leslie Selbovitz, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs. “We voluntarily sought accreditation as a method of assuring our clinical research program has the highest protection of the rights and safety of human research subjects.” 

AAHRPP is a nonprofit organization that offers accreditation to institutions engaged in research involving human subjects.  The accreditation standards extend above and beyond those required by the Federal regulations for human subject research.  The recent articles in the New England Journal of Medicine on the cruelties that can extend from the lack of this protection of human subjects underscore the importance of the accreditation.

“We are proud to have been awarded accreditation by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs,” said Hope Violette, Manager, Office for Research at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.  “The process of accreditation has led to many improvements in our human research protection program and in the end to a higher quality program.”

The accreditation process began with a rigorous self-assessment of how NWH met each of the
nearly 100 standards and elements.  After the self-assessment was submitted to AAHRPP, a two day site visit was conducted by AAHRPP, in which the team reviewed documents and conducted interviews with medical and administrative leadership and other involved institutional officials. AAHRPP accreditation is valid for three years. Accredited organizations submit annual reports to AAHRPP on the status of their human research protection programs. 
 
“Community hospitals are an important local resource for research and innovation, and Newton-Wellesley can take pride in being one of the first community hospitals to achieve AAHRPP accreditation,” said AAHRPP Executive Director Marjorie Speers, Ph.D.

Newton-Wellesley Hospital has been conducting clinical research for over 30 years.  There are approximately 80 clinical studies active at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.  The goal of the Research Program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital is to enable human research, which protects the rights of the research individual, the values of the Hospital, and the integrity of the research while providing a consistent standard of care for patients on research protocols. 

Categories of Clinical Research conducted include:
• Oncology Treatments/Protocols
• Drug Trials
• Medical Device Studies
• Surgical Technique Studies

The Clinical Research Program at Newton-Wellesley Hospital gives patients access to cutting edge treatments without having to travel far from home. Because of the Hospital's partnership with Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Dana Farber/Partners Cancer Care, Newton-Wellesley Hospital is able to offer suburban patients the opportunity to participate in research studies offered at Boston teaching hospitals while continuing care with their physician at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.

CONTACT: 
Rachel Kagno
Public Affairs & Marketing
Newton-Wellesley Hospital
617-243-6528
rkagno@partners.org