New chair appointed for RCVS Ethics Review Panel
The ERP offers an ethics review mechanism for researchers based in practice.
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has appointed Professor Nicola Menzies-Gow as the new chair of its Ethics Review Panel (ERP).
The ERP, first trialled in 2016, offers an ethics review mechanism for researchers that are based in practice, and therefore do not get this process through university or industry connections.
The subcommittee has been led by Prof David Morton CBE since the trial period was first launched. In this time, the ERP has reviewed more than 530 research proposals.
It will now be chaired by Prof Nicola Menzies-Gow FRCVS, professor in equine medicine at the Royal Veterinary College.
Prof Menzies-Gow has been a member of RCVS ERP for the past three years. She has also had the role of chair of the Clinical Research Ethical Review Board at the Royal Veterinary College.
In this role, Prof Menzies-Gow will lead the panel as it provides ethics reviews for researchers that are working in veterinary practice as they submit clinical veterinary research project applications.
Prof Morton, the outgoing chair, said: “I have been privileged to be a member of the Ethics Review Panel and to be its chair, and have learned much from my fellow reviewers. They certainly have made my job easier.
“I have always tried to ensure that the ERP maintains the highest standards whilst not disheartening the applicants by its reviews.”
The newly appointed chair, Prof Menzies-Gow, said: “I am honoured to be offered this position.”
She added: “It is vitally important that all research, regardless of where it is undertaken, undergoes ethical review to ensure that robust results are produced especially when they have the potential to influence clinical practice, and so I really welcome the work the ERP has been undertaking.
“As chair of the ERP I hope to build on the success of my predecessor and continue to support those working in clinical practice that is not associated with a university to undertake valuable research and add to the body of evidence that supports our clinical decision-making.”
Image © RCVS
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