October 2023 Updates

Nearly a year ago, we announced that Brown, Lifespan, and Care New England had signed an agreement to align their research operations. The goal of this agreement and the creation of the Brown Innovation and Research Collaborative for Health (BIRCH), as it is now known, is to establish a unified approach to conducting health and medical research that streamlines operations and strategically aligns the institutions’ research priorities. Care New England and Brown entered into a separate two-party agreement in February of this year to accelerate bringing together CNE’s biomedical health sciences research with Brown’s.

This past month, we took a big step toward our vision of creating a center for research excellence. To effectuate the Brown-CNE agreement, Brown offered employment opportunities to several members of the Care New England research administration team, and seven research professionals will be starting with the University on November 1. While we work together to determine how to operationalize our long-term goals, this team will continue to work closely with Care New England investigators and staff to manage the Care New England research portfolio.

Additionally, the Joint Executive Council approved a future state indirect cost recovery model for the collective research portfolio that involves Brown SPH and BioMed, Care New England, and Lifespan. In partnership with the Huron Consulting Group, the Finance Committee recommended a model in which research awards and projects that can be received and executed by Brown, will be, and Brown University’s facilities and administration (F&A) rate would apply. After reviewing the impacts to the cost recoveries and considering the ease of implementation, it was determined that this model, from a revenue perspective, is best. The Finance Committee and Research Ops and Policy Committee still have a lot of work to do to determine the “how” behind the model, and to gain clarity on expense detail across organizations. 

The roadmap and budget for the unification of the human research protections programs (HRPP) across Care New England, Lifespan, and Brown was also approved. Initial work is underway. HRPP teams from all three entities enjoyed a social gathering on October 4th to meet each other and learn more about the roadmap. 

Bharat Ramratnam, BIRCH Chief Scientific Officer, and Francie Emlen, BIRCH Chief Administrative Officer, will continue to hold virtual walk-in times for members of the research community to ask questions. The 30-minute meetings will happen every other Tuesday, starting October 24th at 11 am, using the following Zoom link: https://brown.zoom.us/j/92198405276

Thank you for your continued support and engagement as we develop our operational model, financial model, and joint research strategic plan.