The nonprofit Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs has accredited four more organizations: the U.S. National Institutes of Health; King Fahad Specialist Hospital-Dammam, Saudi Arabia; Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taiwan; and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn.

“NIH has been at the forefront of research innovation and ethics for decades, and organizations the world round follow NIH’s lead,” said Elyse I. Summers, AAHRPP president and CEO. “The decision to seek AAHRPP accreditation delivers a powerful message to research institutions about NIH’s commitment to research protections and the value of AAHRPP’s standards.”

The AAHRPP accreditation covers the NIH intramural research program, including NIH investigators at more than 20 institutes and centers on all NIH campuses.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is a research organization whose decision to seek AAHRPP accreditation underscores the hospital’s commitment to protecting the thousands of children who participate in research at St. Jude.

With the accreditation of King Fahad Specialist Hospital-Dammam, AAHRPP makes inroads in yet another region of the world and demonstrates that AAHRPP standards have universal applications. The hospital was accredited in accordance with AAHRPP standards, U.S. regulations, International Conference on Harmonization-Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice (E6) and Saudi Arabian law.

The accreditation of Taipei Medical University Hospital—the second university-affiliated hospital in Taiwan to earn the AAHRPP gold seal—marks another international milestone for AAHRPP, which now has accredited 18 organizations outside the U.S.

“These latest accreditations in Saudi Arabia and Taiwan are a reminder that we truly can have one standard for research protections worldwide,” said Summers.

AAHRPP accreditation is available to all organizations worldwide that conduct or review biomedical, behavioral or social sciences research involving human participants. Accreditation decisions are made quarterly.