Pennington Biomedical Research Center Awarded Accreditation for Protecting Research Participants

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Released: Tuesday, December 17, 2013

BATON ROUGE, LA - The human research protection program at Pennington Biomedical Research Center has been awarded accreditation by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP). 

"We consider this the 'gold seal' of excellence, as this stringent accreditation gives assurances to research participants, researchers, sponsors, government regulators, and the general public that our Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) is focused first and foremost on utmost quality," said William Cefalu, M.D, Executive Director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. "At Pennington Biomedical, clinical trials are vital to our overall research efforts. We enroll approximately 2000 individuals annually in our studies. We average 30 new clinical trials each year, half of which last more than one year."

In 2012 Pennington Biomedical created an HRPP to demonstrate a commitment to research participants, as well as to ensure efficiency of operations and the high quality of the research the Center produces and oversees.  This HRPP program includes most of the components of Pennington Biomedical that complete clinical trials in human subjects.  The value of AAHRPP accreditation is the achievement of operating under high ethical standards to earn and sustain the trust and respect of the public, research participants and the research community. AAHRPP promotes high quality, ethically sound research through an accreditation process that helps organizations worldwide strengthen their human research protection programs (HRPPs).

An independent, non-profit accrediting body, AAHRPP uses a voluntary, peer-driven, educational model to ensure that HRPPs meet rigorous standards for quality and protection. To earn accreditation, organizations must provide tangible evidence through policies, procedures, and practices of their commitment to scientifically and ethically sound research and to continuous improvement. 

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The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is at the forefront of medical discovery as it relates to understanding the triggers of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia. It is a campus of Louisiana State University and conducts basic, clinical and population research. The research enterprise at Pennington Biomedical includes approximately 80 faculty and more than 25 post-doctoral fellows who comprise a network of 44 laboratories supported by lab technicians, nurses, dietitians, and support personnel, and 13 highly specialized core service facilities. Pennington Biomedical's more than 500 employees perform research activities in state-of-the-art facilities on the 222-acre campus located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.