Stanford's Rationale for Release of Conflict Info

Stanford University's decision to release information on the relationships between researchers and the corporate world is not one that all in academia would agree with. Nonetheless, it was a healthy response that undoubtedly staved off dribs and drabs of stories that would have reflected poorly on the school.

The San Jose Mercury News piece on the subject (see item below) did not discuss Stanford's reasoning behind the release of the information. We asked Paul Costello, executive director of the Office of Communication and Public Affairs at the Stanford School of Medicine, for comment on the decision to go public. Here is his response verbatim:

"The conflict-of-interest issue is an important topic that merits discussion and debate. Clearly from the highest levels at Stanford -- President Hennessy to Dean Pizzo -- transparency is viewed as essential if we are to help inform the public about the benefits of the biomedical community's involvement with industry.

"Much of the interaction between universities and industry is driven by the 1980 Bayh-Dole Act, which was enacted with the goal of speeding up the commercialization of federally funded university research and helping new industries develop more quickly.

"The Council on Government Relations estimates that there are now more than 1,000 products on the market based on university-licensed discoveries, including many that are used in diagnosing and treating diseases. Yet we also recognize that collaboration between university researchers and private companies carries the potential for conflicts of interest. Stanford has been, and will continue to be, vigilant in monitoring these interactions to ensure that the integrity of our scientists and of their research is not compromised.

"When we were contacted by the Mercury News reporter about the conflict-of-interest topic, we wanted to work with him so that this important story could be told as accurately as possible, and to demonstrate Stanford's considerable efforts to conduct its industry interactions with integrity."