Abstract

The report by Barbara Bierer and Mark Barnes highlights the complexities experienced by institutions that conduct Public Health Service‐funded research involving human subjects and that need to negotiate the requirements of two sets of federal regulations: 45 C.F.R. 46, covering protections for human research subjects, and 42 C.F.R. 93, the PHS policies on research misconduct. As the nation's single largest sponsor of biomedical and behavioral research, the National Institutes of Health seeks to exemplify and promote human research protections and the highest level of scientific integrity, public accountability, and social responsibility in the conduct of science. The NIH is committed to protecting the rights and welfare of research participants and to upholding integrity standards for research supported with public funds. However, human subjects protections must always take priority.