Overview of COI training requirements David T. Wehrle Director/COI Office

The University is required to provide training in conflict of interest (COI) that complies with relevant federal regulations and sponsor requirements

Regardless of sponsor, for successful new applications for research funding that are submitted after February 1, 2017, release of funding will be contingent upon all Investigators on the project having completed COI training within four years prior to the date of release   This supersedes the previous requirement that training be completed prior to submission of a research funding application

Investigators must refresh their COI training every four years (not every three years which was previously the case)   The CITI system automatically sends Investigators emails reminding them when they need to re-take this training Those who have taken the original CITI COI course can take a shorter, refresher course when re-taking the training

All Investigators must use the CITI COI course to fulfill Pitt’s COI training requirements   Many Investigators who are not supported by agencies of the Public Health Service (PHS) have completed the ISER module to fulfill their COI training requirement, but may now use only the CITI COI course To allow time for this change, the deadline for these Investigators to complete the CITI COI course is February 1, 2018, or prior to commencing work on a PHS-funded research project (whichever comes first)

Pitt accepts CITI COI training completed by individuals who are coming to Pitt from other institutions (They only need to review the module in Pitt’s CITI COI course that describes our institution’s policies) Investigators outside of the University of Pittsburgh who are performing PHS funded research on behalf of Pitt must complete COI training. The University of Pittsburgh will accept COI training from outside institutions that have PHS-compliant policies. If the outside institution does not have a PHS-compliant COI policy, the Investigator must complete Pitt's CITI COI training module

Individuals who do not conduct any research and those conducting research without any external funding do not need to complete the COI training module (unless they have disclosed outside financial interests on their University Faculty/Researcher COI disclosure form, or have been directed by their department chair or dean to complete COI training)

Investigator includes any individual, regardless of title or position, who is (or may be perceived to be) independently responsible for or significantly influences, the design, conduct or reporting of the research  

The Principal Investigator (PI) is responsible for identifying the individuals who meet this definition   The COI Training webpage (accessible at http://www.coi.pitt.edu/COItraining.htm) of the COI website provides very good, specific examples of who may and may not be considered Investigators

When funding is awarded, the PI must provide the Office of Research with a list of those who meet this definition and the date on which they completed the CITI COI course   A template table is available on the COI Training webpage which can be used as a resource to capture this information It is the responsibility of the PI to maintain a copy of the course completion certificates on file for all Investigators and to update the list as personnel changes occur

The CITI COI course is accessible at www.citi.pitt.edu   Investigators completing CITI COI Training for the first time: After logging in, under "My Learner Tools for University of Pittsburgh," click "Add a Course" On the next "Curriculum" screen you need to only answer "Yes" to Question 1 to complete COI Training. (If you do not wish to complete the non-COI training modules described in questions 2 through 8 at this time, select "Not at this time" for each question.)

Please note that if you click on the link for CME/CEU credit, you will be directed to the University of Miami website. If, and ONLY if, you want to receive CME/CEU credit for the training, will you need to pay the associated fees. There is NO fee to complete the training module and receipt of CME/CEU credit is NOT required to meet the University of Pittsburgh's COI training requirements.

An administrative interface is available within HSConnect that allows authorized users to view who has taken the CITI COI course and the date on which these individuals have completed the course

Questions?