The selection of
expert scientific panel members for TERA’s VCCEP Peer Consultation
program follows procedures in accordance with the U.S.
Office
of Management and Budget,
the National Academy of Sciences, and the U.S. EPA. These
procedures are described in more detail at https://tera.org/Peer/COI.html.
Additionally, TERA has identified specific items which are considered
to be conflicts of interest or biases for VCCEP panel candidates.
These items are described at https://tera.org/Peer/VCCEP/VCCEPCOI.html.
TERA’s
nomination and selection process for VCCEP peer consultations will assure that:
·
Interested parties have the opportunity to nominate
panel members
·
A high value is placed on the scientific expertise of
each candidate
·
Company and organizational affiliations, potential
conflicts of interest, and biases are considered in
selection and publicly disclosed
·
The panel as a whole includes members with a spectrum of
viewpoints and relevant areas of expertise
Nomination Procedure for Panel Members
Nominees may come from industry, government,
academia, consultant groups, public interest groups, or elsewhere.
They may be actively engaged in their profession or be retired.
Each panel will be comprised of a core group and ad
hoc members. TERA
will consider all nominations and select both core and ad
hoc panel members.
Core Panel Members
Core panel members are experts with sufficiently
broad areas of expertise to qualify them for service on most or all of
the VCCEP panels. Core
panel members add continuity to the peer consultation program and will
be asked to commit to serve on panels for one year.
TERA
will announce the request for core panel member nominations by posting
a notice on its web site and by sending an email to interested parties (i.e., including
identified stakeholders and sponsors).
Ad hoc Panel Members
Ad hoc
panel members are experts selected to serve on a particular VCCEP
panel because of a focused area of expertise.
Ad hoc panel members
may be nominated by stakeholders or identified by TERA.
TERA
will announce the request for ad
hoc panel member nominations several months prior to a specific
chemical's meeting. The
announcement will be posted on TERA’s
web site and an email will be sent to interested parties.
When nominating candidates, nominators should
confirm the candidate’s agreement to serve on a panel, with core
members committing to a term of at least one year.
Nominations submitted to TERA
should include a letter describing the candidate’s qualifications
and the candidate’s CV.
Selection Procedure for Panel Members
TERA
will consider the following criteria when making panel member
selections:
1. Recognized
technical expertise in areas relevant to the subject matter under
discussion, as evidenced by one or more of
the following:
·
Experience in critically
reviewing toxicity, exposure, or epidemiology data, especially as
these relate to children
·
Experience in relating these
data to risk assessment methodologies and principles, and in drawing
conclusions based on these data
·
Knowledge of relevant epidemiology or animal toxicology
testing methods, including the advantages and limitations of test
results provided by specific procedures
·
Knowledge of relevant exposure assessment factors and
methods, including the advantages and limitations of results provided
by specific procedures
·
Scientific publications on the chemical or related
subjects of discussion
·
Familiarity with relevant toxicity,
exposure, or epidemiology information related to children
- Willingness
to publicly disclose all potential conflict of interest and bias
issues, and to be governed by TERA’s
decisions regarding the acceptability of these issues for panel
membership
- Ability
to objectively consider differing viewpoints and work effectively
in a group
- Ability
to attend panel meetings and to devote the time and effort
required to make meaningful contributions to panel discussions
Panels usually will consist of up to twelve
members, plus the chairperson.
TERA
will work to assure each panel’s membership reflects the differing
perspectives of the stakeholders, but TERA
will not guarantee the selection of nominees from
any stakeholder group.
TERA
will notify the selected panelists by phone and letter, and announce
selections to the public via TERA’s
web site.
If you have questions about TERA’s
nomination and selection policy, please contact Jacqueline Patterson
at patterson@tera.org.