Greg Koski, MD, PhD, director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Human Research Protections, presented a Wayne State University School of Medicine Dean’s Distinguished Lecture at Scott Hall on May 24.

Dr. Koski’s lecture, “Integrity, Caring and Trust: The Foundations of Responsible Human Research,” focused on the paradigm shift that needs to take place to protect the future of human research. While committing his office to the challenge of overseeing such a transformation, Dr. Koski admitted that real change must take place at the institutional and even the individual level.

“A culture of compliance is not what we want,” he told the diverse crowd of clinical and basic-science researchers. “I am trying to instill a culture of conscience. If we want to enjoy the benefits of science, we must also accept the responsibilities.”

Thomas Uhde, MD, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, who invited Dr. Koski to the medical school, acknowledged the federal official’s potential to serve as a catalyst for rethinking the business of human research. He also offered WSU’s support for the endeavor.

“This medical school and this university is a wonderful community of PhD and MD researchers, nurses and allied-health professionals, support staff, ethicists and philosophers,” Dr. Uhde said. “We are all looking forward to partnering with you for the ethical and productive advancement of knowledge.”

Before accepting his current post late last year, Dr. Koski had been director of human research affairs for Partners Healthcare System at Massachusetts General Hospital and his alma mater, Harvard Medical School.

During his 30 years at Harvard, Dr. Koski actively participated in every aspect of academic medicine including basic research, clinical investigation, teaching, administration and patient care. He has been both an Internal Review Board chair and a research subject. Within the Department of Anesthesia, Dr. Koski was a senior member of the Cardiac Anesthesia Group. He also served as director of the department’s Henry K. Beecher Memorial Research Laboratories and as director of resident selection and recruitment.

As director of human research affairs at Partners Healthcare, Dr. Koski was responsible for the ethical and regulatory oversight of human investigation, including protection of human participants in research studies.

Dr. Koski’s interest in the protection of human subjects and research ethics grew strongly after joining the Subcommittee on Human Studies of Massachusetts General Hospital in 1989. This committee, established in 1963 under the leadership of Dr. Henry Beecher, became Dr. Koski’s training ground for his latest challenge as director of the Office for Human Research Protections.

The WSU School of Medicine Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series was initiated in 1993 to provide a forum for education and discussion of issues related to academic medicine with relevance to physicians, administrators and other health-care professionals.