Edmonds looks back on 30 years with UTHealth Houston

Editor's Note: On May, 21, 2022, Cynthia Edmonds passed away due to complications of metastatic bladder cancer. She was 59. 

As she prepares for retirement, Cynthia Edmonds, former director of the Office of Research Support Committees at UTHealth Houston, reminisces on her memorable career at the university after more than 30 years of service.

“We salute Cynthia for her devoted service to UTHealth Houston and to the community that we serve,” said Anne Dougherty, MD, vice president of Human Research Protection Programs at UTHealth Houston. “Many people stop me and remark that Committee for Protection of Human Subjects and Animal Welfare Committee is the best Institutional Review Board (IRB) that they have ever worked with. That compliment is largely a testament to Cynthia’s calm leadership, organization and never-failing dedication to details behind the scenes. Cynthia is the epitome of professionalism, and I know that the entire committee and research community join me in wishing her the best in her well-earned retirement.”

Edmonds began working in the field of human subjects’ protection in February 1991 when she joined UTHealth Houston as an administrative coordinator, where she was responsible for supporting the Committee for Protection of Human Subjects and Animal Welfare Committee.

“Over the last 30 years, I’ve witnessed the innovation, technology, and processes change at the university. In 1991, submissions were on paper and the department would photocopy and mail out documents to committee members. In the early 2000s, UTHealth Houston developed an electronic system that simplified the work flow,” said Edmonds. “More recently with the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual meetings have been a part of our everyday life, which made our whole department take on more technology skills to connect and ultimately allowed community members to have more flexibility in joining meetings.”

Since February 2005, Edmonds has served as the Institutional Review Board (IRB) director and led the university’s Human Research Protection Program to earn accreditation in 2009, 2012, and 2017.

“One of the benefits of being around as long as I have is seeing the advancements in medicine,” said Edmonds. “Research involving learning health care systems, big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence seem to be the future. It was interesting adapting our ethical review process for these new types of research studies.”

Edmonds and her team have helped research studies involving drugs, devices, and biologics go from the initial touch point all the way to completion, and even have the products available in the market for clinical care. Edmonds comments how it was interesting to witness the whole process, especially when she has seen the advertisements for the television for drugs and devices that were reviewed by the IRB.

“Edmonds is much admired by the UTHealth Houston research community for steadfast advocacy for research participants,” said Sujatha Sridhar, MBBS, MCE, executive director for research compliance, education, and support services at UTHealth Houston. “Researchers and research staff have always felt comfortable to reach out to Cynthia when they encountered unique situations in their research and appreciated her calm and measured responses. We deeply value her integrity, and how she always stood up for what is right even if it was the difficult thing to do.”

Edmonds ensured her team processed more than 10,000 submissions, each year, in a timely manner.

“Cynthia is one of the most reliable and knowledgeable colleagues I worked with at UTHealth Houston. On the rare occasions when she didn’t already know the answer or information I was looking for, she was always able to get it quickly and it was always correct,” said George Stancel, PhD, dean emeritus for MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. “She played numerous important roles in her time at UTHealth Houston and she always contributed a great amount in every one. She’s one of those people who makes an institution work well, often behind the scenes. She made a lasting and positive mark on the institution, and she will be missed. I learned a great deal from her through the years, and I wish her well in a richly deserved retirement.”

“Edmonds’ contributions to the UTHealth Houston human subjects research are wide-ranging, enduring, and ongoing,” Sridhar said.

The UTHealth Houston community is welcome to leave a note for Edmonds in her online retirement guestbook.