June 11, 2021

Message from the Vice President for Research (VPR)

In President Capilouto’s message to the campus community on Thursday, June 10, he announced campus measures to emerge from the pandemic to be implemented beginning Monday, June 14.

These measures reflect current recommendations of the CDC, direction from state government, guidance from health department officials and the counsel of UK’s own START team of health scientists and clinicians. 

The modifications apply to campus settings. They do not impact UK HealthCare’s policies regarding COVID-19. UK HealthCare facilities are following a phased approach to reopening based on community prevalence and number of active inpatients. UK HealthCare still requires daily screening and masking of all providers, staff, patients and visitors. Any person who will be in one of the health care facilities should understand the phase that health care facilities are in so they can follow the health care guidelines.

Please note, research that involves human subjects will follow guidelines and policies provided by UK HealthCare for mask wearing and physical distancing. 
 

At this time, the University of Kentucky Resumption of Research Phased Plan will end, and researchers should operate based on University guidance. There will be no further need for Phased Plans at this time.

Please review the following highlighted modifications and read the President’s full message here. 

Vaccines

• Vaccines are not mandated, but strongly encouraged. 
• Upload vaccination documentation here, via the self-report tool.
• 70 percent of our campus – students, faculty and staff – have been vaccinated. 

Masks

• People who are vaccinated are not required to wear masks or face coverings in campus outdoor spaces or inside campus buildings that do not deliver patient services for UK HealthCare.
• Mask requirements for non-vaccinated individuals will remain in place. In other words, non-vaccinated individuals will be required to wear a mask or face covering when inside any campus facility, including recreation facilities. Non-vaccinated individuals also should wear a mask outside if they are near other people.

Screening

• Members of the UK community who have been vaccinated no longer are required to complete the university’s daily screener.
• Those who have not been vaccinated will be required to respond to the daily screener.
• If vaccinated individuals are still receiving reminders to complete the screener, please upload vaccination information here, via the self-report tool.

Although these modifications are based on current evidence, UK will continue to monitor new evidence as well as state and federal guidelines.  

Thank you for your efforts throughout this pandemic and your commitment to our community.

Lisa Cassis
Vice President for Research

"Submission Tips in Under 10 Minutes"

Have you ever wondered how you could help speed up the IRB review process?

ORI now has a short video offering tips that may help save you time and effort on your next submission.  [HTML Video]

"New Researcher Frequently Asked Questions"

The UK ORI New Researcher FAQs have been updated and are now available as an interactive tool!  Just click the question to view the answer. Easy peasy! [HTML Interactive Tool] 
 

Need help with a research or IRB related topic? Find answers and A-Z guidance in the IRB Survival Handbook.

ORI supports the institution in promoting ethical conduct of human research and educating University of Kentucky (UK) faculty, staff, and students regarding human research compliance and research ethics.  

ORI provides research support services including IRB review, policy development, web-based IRB submission (E-IRB), HIPAA/FERPA research reviews, protocol review management, ethical and regulatory education, quality improvement review, reliance agreement management, and research misconduct prevention and allegation management. ORI provides support for six federally mandated review committees: four Medical and one Nonmedical Institutional Review Boards (IRB), and the Radioactive Drug Research Committee (RDRC).  

The UK Human Research Program is fully accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Program (AAHRPP). Read about the 2020 AAHRPP Re-accreditation here.

UK Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) Comprehensive Plan (PDF, 22 pgs)

In December 2018, the University of Kentucky Office of Research Integrity (ORI) won an Award of Excellence for Best Practice in Human Research Protection for the “Informed Consent Workshop: From Perception to Process.” The four-hour, hands-on workshop assists researchers in adopting new informed consent rules. Read more…