Workshop Series

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Offered monthly, the Research Professionals Network holds a series of peer-led, collaborative workshops. These workshops are focused on topics relevant to research professional staff and are based on the MRCT Joint Task Force for Clinical Trial Competency Framework. Each workshop is led and presented by staff at the collaborating institutions and affiliates and are supported by the Leadership Team.

The workshop series is an inter-institutional effort between four academic institutions and their affiliates with a Leadership Team composed of individuals from each organization. 

• Boston University Medical Campus, Boston Medical Center, and affiliates: contact Mary-Tara Roth  or contact Stephanie Warth 
• University of Florida and affiliates: contact Alexandria Carey
• University of Vermont, University of Vermont Health Network, and affiliates: contact Kimberly Luebbers
• Medical University of South Carolina and affiliates: contact Diana Lee-Chavarria
• West Virginia University, ISCORE-RC and affiliates: contact Debbie Lee

Affiliation with one of the collaborating institutions is required and is confirmed through the use of an institutional email on registration. Information about affiliation and to join your institution’s local RPN, please reach out to the listed institutional contact above. 

Research staff at Boston University Medical Campus, Boston Medical Center, or its network affiliates can join their local RPN by completing this form. Questions about the BUMC/BMC local network can be addressed to the CRRO. Research staff at any other institution should reach out to the listed institutional contact above. 

All previous workshop recordings and slides are available in our Workshop Library.

Suggestions for future workshops are always welcome and can be submitted by completing our Training and Education Recommendation Form.

Since the workshops began in 2017, several publications have been written or presented on the RPN Workshops. A full reference list with links as applicable are available in our Publications Library.

Contact Hours
All RPN Workshop attendees will receive nursing contact hours prorated based on confirmed actual attendance for each workshop. It is the attendee’s responsibility to ensure that their certification program accepts nursing contact hours. The RPN makes no guarantee of contact hours acceptance for any specific professional organization. All attendees will receive contact hours within 30 days of each workshop.

All questions about contact hours should be directed to the appropriate institutional contact listed above. 

Credit for this educational programming is provided by the University of Vermont. In support of improving patient care, The Robert Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Academic Year 2025-2026 Workshop Offerings – All Workshops are scheduled for 2:30-4:00pm
Check back often as information is continuously updated when topics and presenters are confirmed. Registration forms are available by clicking on the title for each seminar. Pre-registration is required and a work email must be used to register. Registration closes 24 hours prior to each workshop.

Tuesday, June 16, 2026, 2:30-4:00pm – Audit Readiness without the Panic: A Guide to Audit Success

Speakers:

• Melinda Moore, CCRC – Research Compliance Auditor, MUSC
• Coralee Tye, PhD – IRB Regulatory Analyst, UVM
• Michelle Chidester, BA, CCRC – Assistant Director of Regulatory and Quality, WVU
• Hallie Altwies, BS – Quality Assurance Manager, BU/BMC

JTF Competencies: 4, 6

Level: Fundamental

Objectives:

1. Apply best practices to ensure readiness for regulatory review by auditors and understand the roles of auditors in ensuring clinical trial quality.
2. Recognize what data auditors evaluate, including subject protection, protocol adherence, and regulatory compliance.
3. Implement practices that support continuous inspection readiness by identifying how to maintain documentation, processes, and oversight practices that minimize audit risk.
4. Identify frequent issues such as incomplete documentation, workflow inconsistencies, and training deficiencies.

Workshop Overview:

This interactive workshop is designed to help research professionals feel confident and prepared for a potential study audit. Participants will gain an understanding of different types of audits, explore best practices for maintaining continuous audit readiness, and review common audit findings and strategies to help prevent them.

Workshop Level Definitions*
Fundamental: Considered a basic or introductory level. Workshop will include a focus on the basic elements of the topic but might briefly build on more in-depth skills. Individuals at this level are considered to be performing or understanding at an essential or fundamental level. Individuals may require some coaching or supervision for topic-associated task completion.

Skilled: Assumes the audience already has some fundamental knowledge of topic.  Workshop could include a brief review of the basic elements of the topic and build upon that review. Individuals at this level are considered to be performing or understanding roles and tasks independently with a moderate level of expertise of the topic. Individuals are able to independently navigate topic-associated resources and use tools well.

Advanced: Assumes the audience already has some intermediate knowledge of topic. Workshop could include a brief review of the basic elements of the topic but will focus on a more in-depth review of the topic. Individuals at this level are considered to be demonstrating advanced skills and knowledge with the ability to teach, coach, or supervise others. Individuals consistently apply topic-associated critical thinking and problem solving.

Questions about any of the above information? Contact us!