New Office of Research Compliance and Safety Established

Research excellence is a strategic priority and remains central to the mission of ACPHS and the future Russell Sage University. As we move closer to completing the merger, a new Office of Research Compliance and Safety has been established with Dr. Vir Singh serving as director and also as the institution’s OLAW Institutional Official.

The office will provide centralized leadership for animal research, biosafety, chemical safety, laboratory safety, laboratory equipment, and the Animal Research Facility. It will also support both research and teaching laboratories and oversee the institution’s compliance with applicable federal and state requirements.

The IACUC and the Institutional Laboratory Safety and Biosafety Committee will be aligned with this office. The Lab Safety Officer, Animal Research Facility Manager and Veterinary Technician, and Attending Veterinarian will report to Dr. Singh in this capacity.

To support the College’s biosafety measures, Rachel Toshkoff has joined ACPHS as Laboratory Safety Officer. For the past decade, Rachel worked as a Health and Safety Specialist for the Department of Forensic Sciences in Washington, DC. She holds a BS in Forensic Science.

The creation of a new Institutional Biosafety Committee to oversee the lab’s safety needs has been formed with Nick O’Donnell serving as Chair of our committee. It also includes the following members:

• Rachel Toshkoff, Laboratory Safety Officer and Biological Safety Officer, ex-officio voting member
• Michelle Parent, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Allied Health Sciences, voting member
• Michelle Lewis, Executive Director of CBET, voting member
• Marcel Musteata, Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, voting member
• Mary Ellen Piche, unaffiliated community voting member
• Andrew Peifer, unaffiliated community voting member
• Shannon Magari, Colden Corporation, Biosafety Consultant, ex-officio non-voting member

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs will remain in place, with Jo Carreno continuing to lead this area. ORSP will focus on the full lifecycle of sponsored and institutional research funding, including funding opportunities, proposal development and submission, post-award administration, sponsor compliance, internal research awards, and research dissemination activities. The team also includes Grants Administrator, Tiffany Catalfamo; Grants Accountant, Frank Stadtlander; and Administrative Specialist, Mel Quinlan.

ACPHS Interim Executive, Theresa Hand, said about these efforts, “This restructuring retains our existing staffing while realigning responsibilities to provide clearer ownership, stronger accountability, more effective risk management, and better support for our faculty and research programs.”