Weill Cornell Medical College, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and The Rockefeller University sponsor this annual program in collaboration.

Attendance is required by either institutional policy and/or federal government mandate. Currently, all first-year graduate students and MD-PhD candidates are required to take this course as a pre-requisite to receiving their degrees. The federal government requires that anyone appointed to NIH funded National Research Service Award Institutional Training Programs (NRSA T32, T34) must complete a course in the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) either prior to or during the lifetime of the funding period. If an equivalent course was taken elsewhere, documentation certifying satisfactory completion must be made available.

Course Goals and Objectives

• Awareness: Heighten trainees' awareness of ethical considerations relevant to the conduct of research
• Knowledge: Inform trainees of federal, state and institutional policies, regulations and procedures
• Skills: Provide trainees with critical analysis and problem solving skills for ethical decision-making

Mary Simmerling, Ph.D.
Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
Weill Cornell Medical College
Telephone: (212) 746-4809
Email: mcs2006@med.cornell.edu

Course Components & Criteria

Trainees are required to complete the eight-week online course component, write at least 2 case study response papers, and participate in three face-to-face sessions. If you have any questions regarding your obligation to participate, please contact your training grant director or advisor.

Blackboard Registration - Creating an ID and Logging On

You must create a GuestID in order to access the course web site. Please do so according to the following list of instructions:

1. Go to http://guestid.cit.cornell.edu/reg/register.cfm
2. To access the GuestID Registration Form, you will be prompted to enter a username and password. Please input the following combination to get started:
   
   Username:blackboard
   Password: getguestid

Completing the GuestID Registration Form

1. Fill in your first and last name.
2. Your GuestID will be constructed from your name. For example, if your name is John Doe, your GuestID will be "john.doe". Spaces, numbers and punctuation (except for hyphens) will be removed. So, if your name is "Mary Jane O'Donnell-van Zandt", your GuestID will be "maryjane.odonnell-vanzandt". If your name is John Carter Jr., your GuestID would appear as "john.carterjr". Please consider carefully how you would like your GuestID to appear before inputting your information. You will have the opportunity to modify your name later if necessary, but an original GuestID cannot be altered.
3. Enter your email address.
4. Choose a password which you will need to enter twice. The password is case-sensitive and must contain at least eight characters. It must also have at least one upper case letter, one lower case letter and one number.
5. Enter your birthday (month and day only), choose a hint question from the list and provide an appropriate answer. You will need this response to retrieve a forgotten password!
6. Select your Blackboard course - MEDRCR-FALL2009 - from the list provided. If your course is not listed, choose "Other."
7. To help prevent unauthorized use of the registration form, you will be asked to enter a group of characters specified in a graphic. This portion is not case-sensitive, and a different graphic will appear each time the form is refreshed.
8. Read through the "Terms of Use" section and click the "I Agree" button.

Final Steps

1. After you complete the form, an automatic confirmation email will be generated and sent to you. Click on the link in the email. You will be re-directed to a web page where you will confirm your birth date. After doing so, click on "Submit".
2. A second email informing you that your GuestID has been created will then be sent.

Logging on to Begin the Online Course

1. Go to http://www.blackboard.cornell.edu
2. Click on the Log In button at the upper right corner of the screen.
3. Enter your GuestID (equivalent to "NetID"), type in your password and click "OK".
4. On the welcome screen under My Courses, you will see this course listed as MEDRCR-FALL2009: Responsible Conduct of Research - click on it to enter.
5. Consult the Course Information tab for Navigation Tips, Overview, General Information and Guidelines for Case Analysis.

Course Requirements

Online Course Work

The course will be accessible beginning September 7, 2008. It is highly recommended that you complete one topic per week according to the following schedule:

1. Week of September 8 - Research Misconduct & Whistleblowing
2. Week of September 15 - Data Management
3. Week of September 22 - Use of Animal Subjects
4. Week of September 29 - Use of Human Subjects
5. Week of October 6 - Conflicts of Interest & Commitment
6. Week of October 13 - Authorship
7. Week of October 20 - Peer Review & Publication
8. Week of October 27 - Collaboration & Mentoring

At the end of each section, you will be required to complete and pass (a score of at least 7/10 correct answers) an online multiple choice quiz. Six out of eight total quizzes must be passed to ensure successful completion of the online portion of the course.

Written Responses

Students are required to submit two, one page response papers. Each paper should relate to a case study from a group of sections: the first paper should respond to a case study from sections 1-4, and the second should respond to a case study from sections 5-8. Additional response papers with the same format and content will be assigned to students who do not pass at least six of the eight online quizzes (one extra paper per quiz failed below six). The writing assignments will be graded by the course coordinators on a pass/fail basis.

Attendance & Participation

There are three MANDATORY, live sessions. Students will be required to sign an attendance sheet at the beginning and end of each session. A waiver to excuse one absence (under extreme circumstances) must be submitted to a course coordinator for approval. Additionally, students are required to display an understanding of the readings and presentations by participating actively in class discussions.

Evaluation Forms

Evaluation surveys will be sent electronically within one week of the final session. Students are strongly urged to respond as the evaluations provide valuable feedback that leads to improvement of the course.

Live Sessions

All sessions will be held on Tuesdays from 4:00-6:00 PM. Check-in begins at 3:30 PM in front of:

Uris Auditorium
Weill Cornell Medical College
1300 York Avenue, East 69th Street

Session #1	September 8th, 2009
3:30-4:00 PM	Check-In
4:00-4:15 PM	Welcoming Remarks: Dr. David Hajjar Senior Executive Vice Dean, Executive Vice Provost Dean of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences WCMC
4:15-5:00 PM	Lecture: "Inmaculada de Melo-Martin, Ph.D., Division of Medical Ethics, WCMC
5:00-6:00 PM	Lecture: Marcus Reidenberg, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology, WCMC

Session #2	October 6, 2009
3:30-4:00 PM	Check-In
4:00-5:00 PM	Lecture: Eric Cottington, Ph.D Vice President of Research and Technology Management MSKCC
5:00-6:00 PM	Lecture: Scott F. Finkernagel, CBSP Senior Biosafety Specialist WCMC

Session #3	November 3th, 2009
4:00-6:00 PM	POV Panel Discussion: Barry Coller, M.D., Physician in Chief, RU