Staff Announcement: New Associate Director, IRB Compliance and Reliance
March 24, 2022
After a 3-month long nationwide search and with a diverse candidate slate of high-caliber applicants, I am pleased to announce that effective Monday March 14th, 2022 that Piper Hawkins-Green will assume the inaugural role of Associate Director, IRB Compliance and Reliance for Northwestern University’s IRB Office.
Piper has been a valued employee of Northwestern University for 17 years. Piper joined the IRB Office (formerly known as the Office for the Protection of Research Subjects, OPRS) in 2005, as a Department Assistant. In that role Piper supported both the Biomedical and Social-Behavioral IRB Offices, which set the foundation for her IRB knowledge and broad understanding of research concepts and designs, and the facets of human participant protection in both contexts. Piper joined the Biomedical Office in 2007 as an IRB Coordinator and since then have held a number of positions with steadily increasing responsibility over the years, including Senior IRB Coordinator, IRB Compliance Analyst and for the past 4 years as IRB Compliance Manager in which she oversaw the implementation and development of the IRB’s compliance and quality assurance program—ensuring that the program meets regulatory requirements and widely-accepted national standards, including maintaining AAHRPP accreditation. Piper was also responsible for the supervision and training of a team of 5 compliance and reliance staff members.
In the role of Associate Director, IRB Compliance and Reliance, Piper will continue to support the mission of Northwestern University’s Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) and IRB to safeguard the rights and welfare of human participants involved in research, and will assist the Executive Director and AVP in the development of the IRB Office/HRPP strategic plan and fiscal management. The Associate Director, IRB Compliance and Reliance has the primary responsibility for overseeing the compliance, education, risk management and quality initiatives of the IRB Office/HRPP and the workflows of the Compliance and Reliance units, including managing a team of 11 staff members. As Associate Director, IRB Compliance and Reliance, Piper will serve on the IRB Office leadership team, and will work closely with members of Office for Research and HRPP Leadership, IRB Chairs, University Affiliates and ancillary committee leadership, and other stakeholders in the University’s research community to ensure HRPP operational efficiency and compliance with federal, state, and local laws regarding human research and accreditation requirements.
In addition to 17 years of human research regulatory compliance and Institutional Review Board experience, Piper has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from University of Illinois at Chicago with a minor in Psychology, and a Master of Science in Regulatory Compliance from Northwestern University. Additionally, Piper has maintained Certified IRB Professional (CIP) status for the past 13+ years. We are extremely excited to have Piper as the new Associate Director, IRB Compliance and Reliance. Please join us in congratulating her!
Healthy Wishes,
Nathalia
Nathalia Henry Whitely, MS, CHRC, CIP
Executive Director, IRB Office
Northwestern University
Institutional Review Board Office