Copernicus Group IRB promotes Yvonne Higgins to Vice President, Quality Management

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep. 21, 2012 - September 20, 2012, Research Triangle Park, N.C. – Copernicus Group IRB (CGIRB), a leading independent institutional review board, today announced the promotion of Yvonne Higgins to Vice President, Quality Management. In addition to her promotion, Higgins has been appointed as CGIRB’s Institutional Official. In her new position, Higgins is responsible for ensuring the operations of the company are in compliance with all applicable regulations governing human subjects protection.

In her most recent role as the Director of Quality Management, Ms. Higgins was responsible for overseeing CGIRB’s Human Research Protection Program and managing Quality Assurance & Compliance.

"The ethics experience Yvonne brings to CGIRB’s leadership team serves us well in upholding our mission to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects participating in clinical trials," Dawn Pope, Chief Operating Officer, said. "With Yvonne’s guidance, our Quality Management department truly upholds our Quality Policy, which includes a commitment to continual process improvement. Our Quality Management team maintains our ISO quality management system and has an integral role in our Lean Six Sigma initiative – two of our most impactful programs. We congratulate Yvonne on her success and look forward to her future contributions."

Ms. Higgins, a Certified IRB Professional (CIP), was as an AAHRPP site auditor for five years and served a two-year term as an AAHRPP Council Member. In addition to her contributions at AAHRPP, Ms. Higgins is a Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) member. She has earned several industry honors, including the PRIM&R Distinguished Service Award.

About Copernicus Group IRB
Experience and innovation in ethical review Copernicus Group IRB, established in July 1996, is a leading U.S. independent institutional review board ("IRB") dedicated to ensuring the rights and welfare of research study participants. The IRB provides ethical review of research protocols, investigators, and subject information and consent forms to ensure compliance with federal regulations set forth in 21 CFR, 45 CFR and ICH/GCP Guidelines. CGIRB achieved full AAHRPP accreditation in 2004, reaccreditation in 2007 and 2011, and ISO 9001:2008 certification in 2010.

About AAHRPP
The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP) promotes high-quality research through an accreditation process that helps organizations worldwide strengthen their human research protection programs (HRPPs).

Corporate Contact:
Rebecca Sipes
rsipes@cgirb.com

Media Contact:
Gwen Hoover
gwen@altitudemarketing.com