University Suspends 25-Year Smoking Study

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana University suspended a 25-year smoking study because personal information about the research subjects was disclosed to someone arranging a school reunion, officials said.

The disclosure didn’t cause any physical or emotional harm, said Ann Gellis, associate vice president for research compliance. “Nevertheless, it was a serious breach that we’re investigating,” she said.

The study – halted by the school’s Institutional Review Board, which oversees studies on human subjects – is expected to resume soon, said Jim Sherman, a psychology professor who is the survey’s principal investigator.

The Smoking Survey began in 1980 as a survey of 8,500 students in Monroe County middle schools and high schools. Follow-up surveys using mail and the Internet have been conducted as recently as last year, according to the study’s Web site.

The project, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is thought to be the longest-running U.S. study of smoking attitudes and behaviors in the same subjects. It has looked at smoking and stress, factors related to quitting smoking and teen smoking rates.

In 2003, the university suspended research on human subjects on its South Bend campus after officials determined the studies had not received adequate oversight.

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On the Net:

http://www.indiana.edu/(tilde)smokesvy