Washington, DC -- February 22, 1999 -- Preserving the confidentiality of human health research and protecting intellectual property rights will be among the issues discussed with the scientific community during a briefing cosponsored by AAAS and Federal Focus, Inc. on February 26 about a federal mandate to allow public access to data from federally funded research.
The possible consequences of the proposed revision to Circular A-110 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is in the public comment stage until April 5, will be addressed by an official from OMB and by representatives from federal agencies, universities and industry. The AAAS briefing follows the introduction of legislation (H.R. 88) in January by Rep. George Brown (D-CA) to repeal the mandate.
The revision to OMB Circular A-110 would require federal agencies to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for data from federally funded projects at universities, hospitals, and other research institutions. Currently, research data that are not already in federal agency files are not subject to FOIA requests.
In addition to threats to privacy of human research subjects and to researchers' intellectual property rights, other concerns from the scientific community include the excessive cost burden on research institutions to supply data and the premature disclosure of data that has not been sufficiently analyzed.
EVENT: AAAS Briefing on Public Access to Federally Funded Research Data
WHEN: February 26, 1999, 9:00 a.m. -- 12:30 p.m.
WHERE: AAAS Auditorium
1200 New York Ave. NW, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC
Metro Station: MetroCenter (red, orange or blue lines)
Briefing participants will include:
- Daniel Mendelson, Associate Director for Health and Personnel, Office of Management and Budget
- Jean Fruci, Technology Subcommittee Professional Staff Member, House Science Committee
- Kathy Casey, Legislative Director, Office of Senator Richard Shelby
- Wendy Baldwin, Deputy Director of Extramural Research, National Institutes of Health
- Roger McClellan, President, Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology
- Mary Ellen Sheridan, Assistant Vice President for Research, University of Chicago
Editor's Note: Reporters must register to attend the briefing by contacting Dave Amber (202-326-6434, damber@aaas.org) or Ellen Cooper (202-326-6431, ecooper@aaas.org)