Reminders about Financial Conflicts of Interest

A recent study from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) affirmed that the National Institutes for Health (NIH) grant recipients play a key role in protecting the integrity and security of U.S. biomedical research, in part through requiring investigators to disclose all of their significant financial interests and all sources of their other support.

As noted by the OIG, failures by some recipients to disclose substantial contributions of resources from foreign entities, including foreign governments, have raised concerns about threats to the integrity of NIH-supported research.

In response to the OIG recommendations, we are reminding grant applicants and recipients again of NIH’s Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) and  Other Support grant requirements.