Elyse I. Summers, JD, became President and CEO of the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP) in 2013. She provides strategic and substantive leadership and oversight on all aspects of AAHRPP’s global operations. Prior to AAHRPP, Ms. Summers was the Director of the Division of Education and Development at the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), a position she held from 2008-2013.  Ms. Summers first began working for OHRP’s predecessor organization (the Office for Protection Research Risks [OPRR]), in 1998, first in the Division of Compliance Oversight and then in the Division of Education.  Prior to joining OPRR/OHRP, Ms. Summers practiced law pertaining to food, drugs, and other medical products (Buc & Beardsley).  Included in her practice was the provision of guidance and counseling on Federal and State law, regulations, and ethical issues related to the conduct of biomedical research.  Prior to that, Ms. Summers spent five years in the Office of the Commissioner at FDA, as Special Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner for External Affairs, and later as an original staff member of FDA’s Office of Women’s Health.

Ms. Summers has spoken extensively and published several articles and book chapters on biomedical and behavioral research and human research protections. She began her career at the Association of American Universities, representing research universities.  She earned her J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center and her B.A. from the University of Michigan.  She is a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia and of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.