A longtime leader in the Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) office at WMU Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine (WMed) has been named the medical school’s new senior director for Research Compliance.
Christopher Schneider, MS, officially began his new duties in October after serving in the senior director role on an interim basis since July following the retirement of Amy Shipley, PhD.
As the new senior director, Schneider is responsible for leading research compliance for the medical school, overseeing the Institutional Review Board, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Institutional Biosafety Committee, sponsored programs administration, chemical hygiene, and radiation safety. Schneider brings to the role more than 15 years – the last 10 spent at WMed – as a research leader.
“The research compliance programs established by Dr. Shipley are an essential component of our identity and responsibility as a medical school,” Schneider said. “I am truly honored to be serving in this role and continuing the work of supporting the incredible variety of research projects at WMed.”
Schneider joined WMed in May 2015 as the SPA director and during his time at the medical school he formed the new SPA office, recruited staff, and developed all policies and procedures for managing active grants and industry-funded clinical trials. SPA provides pre- and post-award services and clinical trial contractual and financial oversight for the medical school’s clinical research enterprise.
Prior to joining WMed, Schneider was a clinical research coordinator at the former Borgess Research Institute for five years. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University and a Master of Science in Clinical Research Administration from Eastern Michigan University.
“Research at WMed has grown tremendously over the past decade,” Schneider said. “As the complexity and scale of our research programs have grown, so too have the benefits to our community, hospital partners, and the patients we serve.”