About Us

Dr. Jeffrey M. Cohen

As Chief Executive Officer of HRP Consulting Group, Jeffrey has had over 30 years experience in human research protections.  Dr. Cohen was also the founder of HRP Associates in 2005.  For 20 years, Dr. Cohen served in the Office for Research at the University at Albany, State University of New York as the Associate Director for Research Compliance and Information Management.  In this role, Dr. Cohen was responsible for the administration of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) as well as the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). He then served as Director, Division of Education and Development in the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) in the US Department of Health and Human Services for four years.  Following his service at OHRP, Dr. Cohen served as Associate Dean, Responsible Conduct of Research at Weill Medical College of Cornell University.  Since leaving Cornell, Dr. Cohen has been an independent consultant.

Dr. Cohen has been an active contributor to national discussions of human subjects issues since 1979, is a highly visible participant at national meetings such as those sponsored by PRIM&R (Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research) and is past president of ARENA (The Applied Research Ethics National Association).  Dr. Cohen is a Certified IRB Professional (CIP) and in 2009 won the prestigious ARENA Legacy award for his contribution to human research protections.

Ms. Cheryl Savini

As Chief Operating Officer of HRP Consulting Group, Cheryl has over 20 years experience in human research protections, in both the biomedical and social and behavioral fields, serving both the civilian and military arenas.    Her experience spans from IRB administration to policy development, and program oversight and monitoring. She has held positions of Acting Research Compliance Officer at the University at Albany for both human research protections and the animal welfare programs; Director, Human Subjects Research Office at the University of Miami; and Quality Assurance Manager for the Human Subjects Research Office for the U.S. Department of the Navy.  In addition, Ms. Savini has worked for an independent IRB and medical academic institutions, and has served as an IRB member.

Ms. Savini has been a member of the nationally and internationally acclaimed Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) web-based training program since 2002, serving on the social and behavioral developers, editors, and contributors groups.

Cheryl is a Certified IRB Professional (CIP) and has been honored with several distinguished awards, including; the University Presidential Award at the University at Albany, the State University of New York Chancellor’s Award for Professional Service; and the Initiatives for Women Award.

Mr. Nicholas Slack

Prior to joining HRP Consulting Group as the Director of Consulting Services, Mr. Slack was the Associate Director of Accreditation at AAHRPP.  There, he provided regulatory and accreditation guidance to over 75 organizations, spanning a client base ranging from universities and hospitals, to independent IRBs, governmental agencies, and clinical research organizations (CROs).  In addition to working with organizations in the accreditation process, Mr. Slack provided ongoing advice to accredited organizations on numerous issues including the implementation of procedural changes, regulatory interpretations, and the ability of organizations to centralize IRB review.

Prior to joining AAHRPP, Mr. Slack was the Senior Regulatory Affairs Coordinator at Schulman Associates IRB, Inc.  In this role, he provided regulatory guidance to a client base ranging from drug/device manufacturers and CROs to investigators and research staff.  Mr. Slack was also a member of the Quality Improvement Committee, conducted continuing education activities for internal staff, and was actively involved in helping Schulman achieve AAHRPP accreditation.  From a strategic standpoint, Mr. Slack was involved in the management of company-wide projects, including the design and implementation of the expedited review process for investigative sites.

Nick Slack combines his experience with a master’s degree in bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania.  He is a regular speaker at the AAHRPP conference and hosted educational webinars during his time at AAHRPP.