The Elm

The Office of Accountability and Compliance makes the following four announcements:

Dr. Robert Rosenthal Appointed Assistant Provost

Robert Rosenthal, MD, has been appointed assistant provost for the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB). Dr. Rosenthal’s new role will include research compliance support of the chairs of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Additionally, he will serve as chair of a new initiative at UMB, the Research Compliance Coordinating Council (RCCC).

In 2000, Dr. Rosenthal joined the UMB community, assuming the position of professor of emergency medicine and anesthesiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. At that time, he also assumed the role of medical director for hyperbaric medicine at the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center through 2021.

Dr. Rosenthal has extensive experience with research and research compliance. In 2002, he began his service on UMB’s IRB. In 2011, he was appointed chair of IRB and served in that position until this appointment as assistant provost for research compliance. He is succeeded as IRB chair by Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD.

RCCC is being established as a multidisciplinary body charged with promoting collaboration across UMB functional units and schools to identify and advise on research compliance issues through integrated processes, education and training, and communication.

Research Compliance Coordinating Council Created

Susan Buskirk, DM, MS, vice president, chief accountability officer, and institutional official for human subjects research, has announced the creation of the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) inaugural Research Compliance Coordinating Council (RCCC).

RCCC’s goal is to support and advance UMB’s research mission through research compliance, facilitating coordination, collaboration, and communication across the University and beyond.

RCCC will promote excellence, integrity, and creativity in research activities across the University and with its research partners. The council will further cross-disciplinary cooperation to streamline our processes and maximize efficiency. It also will identify and communicate measures of success to assess the impact on UMB’s research enterprise.

Robert Rosenthal, MD, who recently was appointed assistant provost of UMB, will serve as chair of RCCC. The council will include representation from each of the UMB schools that conduct research, as well functional units associated with research and research compliance. The council also will include representatives from UMB’s research partners, including the University of Maryland Medical System, the University of Maryland Medical Center, and the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Dr. Jon Mark Hirshorn Appointed Chair of Institutional Review Board

Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD, has been appointed chair of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Institutional Review Board (IRB), succeeding Robert Rosenthal, MD.

Dr. Hirshon is a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, where he treats patients and teaches students and residents as chief of the Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center Emergency Department.

Dr. Hirshon has served for more than 20 years as vice chair and senior vice chair of UMB’s IRB. Dr. Hirshon has extensive research experience. He has been a principal investigator/program director on federally funded research and training grants, as well as co-investigator on numerous other funded projects.

Dr. Graham Aberdeen Appointed Chair of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

Graham Aberdeen, PhD, has been appointed chair of the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Dr. Aberdeen succeeds John Sacci, PhD.

Dr. Aberdeen joined the UMB community in 1998 as a postdoctoral research fellow, after which he joined the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences. During his time at UMB, he has actively served on numerous committees and councils, including the School of Medicine Council and the ACUP Transition Committee.

Dr. Aberdeen has served on IACUC since 2002. He assumed a supportive role for the chair of IACUC and was appointed as the inaugural vice chair in July 2022. Dr. Aberdeen is an experienced researcher. He has been co-investigator on multiple National Institutes of Health-funded projects.