Privacy

Our staff is trained to protect the privacy of the people who participate in our research studies. We code all information by number rather than by name, and the identities of participants are never revealed in publications. If appropriate, major findings regarding individual patients will be shared with treating physicians if it is in the treatment interest of the patient. This applies to medical emergencies as well. We make every effort to discuss with the involved patient any new information we learn about them relevant to their medical health and treatment. The current policy of the Center for Cognitive Medicine is to maintain source documents contained in the research charts for 10 years. This data will be maintained in locked files until such time as the principal investigator decides the final disposition. In cases where the principal investigator decides to dispose of the data, this information will be shredded for the protection of patient confidentiality.

No identifiable materials will be available outside of the PI and immediate UIC co-investigators and their research staff. The possible exceptions are:

1. The Institutional Review Board (IRB): This group has the responsibility for reporting adverse research events as well as for the protection of human subjects in research. They may want to examine records to investigate a specific event or for routing monitoring of our compliance with UIC human research policies.

2. The FDA for assessment of their MRI guidelines. Because MRI scanners are FDA approved medical devices, the FDA may at some time decide to investigate scanner use at UIC. Subjects will be informed of these possibilities prior to consenting to research studies, and the study consent form (of which they will be given a copy) will explicitly state this.

The results of the research are used for scientific and research oriented data analysis. The individual participants of the study are not identifiable. None of the research data and/or results are intended to become part of the patients’ medical records or other individual permanent records.