Conflict of Interest Guidelines
Temerty Innovation Grants for AI in Medicine
Conflict of Interest Guidelines
Objectives
• To outline conditions that minimize risk of conflict of interest for any Adjudicating Member in the Adjudication Process of the Temerty Innovation Grants for AI in Medicine
• To outline processes to manage any conflict of interest situations to protect the impartiality of the Temerty Innovation Grants Adjudication Process and to protect the public interest.
Definition
A conflict of interest exists when:
• An Adjudication Committee member’s professional activity undermine rather than enhance the member's ability to meet the member’s responsibilities to the Temerty Innovation Grants adjudication process; or
• An Adjudication Committee member’s non-professional activity, which are engaged in for personal gain, undermine rather than enhance the member's ability to meet the member's responsibilities to the Temerty Innovation Grants adjudication process; or
• An Adjudication Committee member's personal or financial interest conflicts with the member's responsibilities to the Temerty Innovation Grants adjudication process.
Real conflict of interest: An Adjudicating Committee member has a competing interest, which interferes or undermines him/her to fulfill responsibilities to the Adjudication process.
Perceived conflict of interest: An Adjudicating Committee member may reasonably be understood as having two competing interests, one of which is likely to interfere or undermine his/her ability to fulfill responsibilities to the Adjudication process.
Eligibility to Compete for Funding for Adjudication Committee Members
i.) Adjudication Committee members may not apply for the Temerty Innovation Grants as Primary Applicants.
ii.) Adjudication Committee members may apply for the Temerty Innovation Grants as co-Applicants and/or as team members.
iii.) Adjudication Committee members may not be involved in the review and adjudication of applications on which they are co-Applicants or team members (they must recuse themselves from the review and adjudication of applications on which they are co-Applicants and/or team members).
Adjudication Committee Members
A person may be considered for membership on the Adjudication Committee unless he/she:
i.) Is identified as the principal Applicant on an application to be reviewed by the Adjudication Committee.
ii.) Is currently ineligible to apply for and/or hold funds from any research or research funding organization worldwide for reasons of breach of policies on responsible conduct of research – such as ethics, integrity, or financial management policies.
Conflict of Interest Scenarios
Guidelines of this nature cannot foresee all possible situations, but some conflicts include:
• Adjudicating Committee member collaborated on, and is part of, the project proposal (co-applicant/team member).
• The principal Applicant is, has been, or will be under the direct or co-supervision of the Adjudicating Committee member.
• Adjudicating Committee member has a vested interest in the success of the project proposal.
• Adjudicating Committee member will personally benefit from the acceptance of a project proposal.
• Adjudicating Committee member has or has had a personal or professional relationship with the principal Applicant:
-Personal relationship is defined as family members.
-Professional relationship is defined as individuals who have published together in the past five years.
Disclosure of Conflict of Interest
• Any Adjudicator of the Temerty Innovation Grant Adjudication Process, who becomes aware of a conflict of interest, must promptly disclose the conflict to the T-CAIREM Centre Administrator through email <t.cairem@utoronto.ca>.
• Declaration must include the project title and primary Applicant name submitted on the proposal.
• Declaration must be made by the application submission deadline.
• If an Adjudication Committee member is in conflict with a particular application that has been assigned to him/her for review, a new reviewer will be re-assigned as appropriate.
• If Adjudication Committee member is in conflict with a particular application, the member will be asked to leave the room (physical or virtual) during the selection committee meeting before the deliberations on that application begin.
Outcome
• The Responsible Authority will determine the presence and nature of a conflict of interest and what measures – such as recusal – are required.
• An Adjudication Committee member cannot be involved in the Adjudication Process of an application where he/she is in Conflict of Interest.