FCOI Key Terms

Investigator

For the purposes of FCOI, investigator means any person, regardless of title or position, who is responsible for the design, conduct or reporting of the results of a sponsored project.

Institutional Responsibilities

The work that investigators do at or on behalf of Children's is part of their institutional responsibilities, including but not limited to research conducted at, on behalf of or through Seattle Children's; consultation; teaching; professional practice; management duties; and service on Seattle Children's institutional committees or boards.

Many investigators have appointments at more than one institution. Any work performed at or on behalf of another institution at which an investigator holds a joint appointment is subject to that institution's policies. Please see Helpful Links at the bottom right corner of the page for links to financial conflict of interest information for some of our partner institutions, such as University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center.

Financial Interest

In general, a financial interest is anything of monetary value, easily determined or not, that is possessed by an investigator or their spouse, domestic partner and/or dependent children.

Significant Financial Interest

A Significant Financial Interest (SFI) is an interest that appears to be related to an investigator's institutional responsibilities (PDF) and meets one or more SFI criteria (as defined in ORC-003 [PDF]), after accounting for any specified exclusions.

Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI)

FCOI in research is a significant financial interest that could directly and significantly affect the design, conduct or reporting of the research.

Per federal regulations, research institutions are responsible for the management of FCOI. The Office of Research Compliance (ORC) determines if a financial interest could directly and significantly affect the design, conduct or reporting of a research project and hence qualifies as an FCOI.

Sponsored Research

Sponsored research is any research project for which an application/proposal is submitted to the Office of Sponsored Research. This includes research funded by internal awards such as Center for Clinical and Translational Research funding programs.