About ECOR
The MGH Executive Committee On Research (ECOR), formed in 1947 when MGH received its first outside grants, is the central planning and policy-making body of the MGH research enterprise. It is a standing committee of the MGH General Executive Committee (GEC) with specific responsibilities of ECOR described in the by-laws, including:
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Developing a research plan congruent with the clinical mission of the MGH and the Partners-wide science enterprise;
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Representing the needs of the MGH scientists to the GEC;
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Formulating research policies within the framework established by the Trustees and the President;
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Developing recommendations for the GEC and the President on resource allocation issues;
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Evaluating and monitoring the quality of the science; and
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Optimizing communication between administration and investigators.
Today, ECOR has responsibility for providing strategic guidance to MGH leadership and MGH Trustees regarding future research growth and priorities within MGH, across Partners, and with affiliated external institutions. It also is responsible for providing faculty guidance on development and management of policies on human subjects, proposal review, animal care, animal studies, communications, graduate education, and research facilities (including research space). Various initiatives and relevant subcommittees are established to carry out these responsibilities.
In 2006, ECOR instituted a major grants program, offering both specific awards to support outstanding MGH researchers and Interim Support grants to MGH investigators during lapses in their NIH funding.
The ECOR Chair is selected from among the Chiefs of MGH Services and Departments; the Vice Chair usually succeeds to the Chair role. Each position is a three year term; the vice chair usually succeeds to the role of Chair and the immediate past ECOR Chair remains a part of the ECOR leadership team, thereby assuring continuity over a 9-year time period.
The current Chair is Merit Cudkowicz, MD (Chief, Neurology); the Vice Chair is Maurizio Fava, MD (Chief, Psychiatry); and the Immediate Past Chair is David Fisher, MD, PhD (Chief, Dermatology).
The ECOR Executive Committee is comprised of these three people plus the Sr. Vice President for Research, the Chiefs of Surgery and Medicine, the Director of the Division of Clinical Research, the Scientific Director of the MGH Research Institute, the Director of ECOR, the Director of the Research Space Management Group, and the Senior Administrative Director for MGH Research Management.
ECOR membership includes two elected representatives from each of the three HMS faculty
ranks (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor), as well as representatives elected from the Chiefs’ Council and faculty appointed by the Chair of ECOR. Senior MGH and MGPO leadership, including the MGH President and the MGPO President, are members.
ECOR meets the second and fourth Monday of the month.