What Is DURC?

The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) has defined dual use research of concern (DURC) as “research that, based on current understanding, can be reasonably anticipated to provide knowledge, products, or technologies that could be directly misapplied by others to pose a threat to public health and safety, agricultural crops and other plants, animals, the environment, or material.”

An excellent short video discussing DURC is posted on the NIH Office of Biotechnology Activities (OBA) website. All investigators are strongly recommended to watch the video for a better understanding of the issues at hand.

The FIU Institutional Review Entity (IRE)

The United States Government Policy for Institutional Oversight of Life Sciences Dual Use Research of Concern specifies the practices and procedures required to ensure that dual use research of concern is identified at the institutional level and risk mitigation measures are implemented as necessary. Institutions and investigators who receive federal funding are required, as a condition of that funding, to comply with the rules established by the US Government for DURC.
The Florida International University (FIU) Institutional Review Entity (IRE) Committee provides oversight of potential DURC . Research conducted at or sponsored by FIU, or research conducted by FIU faculty members or students at FIU, must be evaluated for DURC potential if it uses one or more of the following fifteen (15) agents and/or toxins:

• Avian influenza virus (highly pathogenic)
• Bacillus anthracis
• Botulinum neurotoxin (no exempt quantities)
• Burkholderia mallei
• Burkholderia pseudomallei
• Ebola virus
• Marburg virus
• Reconstructed 1918 Influenza virus
• Rinderpest virus
• Toxin-producing strains of Clostridium botulinum
• Foot-and-mouth disease virus
• Francisella tularensis
• Variola major virus
• Variola minor virus
• Yersinia pestis

Need Assistance?

The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) is responsible for the ethical and regulatory oversight of research at Florida International University that involves Dual Use of Research Concern. ORI supports and oversees the work of the Institutional Review Entity (IRE).

If you have any questions regarding the IRE, please contact Barbara Llaneras Rodriguez, MBA in the Office of Research Integrity located in MARC 430. She can also be reached at: (305) 348-8316. Also, please visit our IRE tools and resources page for additional information.