Membership

Consistent with our mission, the principal function of the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth is to coordinate a program of research, education, and patient care as part of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center that effectively promotes joint initiatives, collaborations, and interactions within and among its members.

Koop Institute activities are primarily characterized by interdisciplinary collaboration to foster research that helps us understand the relationship between unhealthy consumer products and population health. Although our main focus is on products that contribute to chronic disease (particularly tobacco, alcohol, and highly processed foods), the Koop Institute seeks to extend our themes to cover researchers that study how other unhealthy consumable products affect health and how industry practice affects unhealthy consumption. By industry practice, we mean any action by a company or corporation that directly (e.g., marketing and promotion) or indirectly (e.g., lobbying within the political system) increases unhealthy product consumption. We would also include regulatory research that examines how government can intervene to decrease exposure to these products among vulnerable groups (e.g., children).

Secondary activities include programs designed to educate the public and members of the Dartmouth community about the primary role that unhealthy products play in our chronic disease epidemics, and public health programs to control the use of unhealthy consumer products.

C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth members generally hold a primary appointment at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, but we also welcome applicants from across the Dartmouth community and from other institutions as well.

Membership Criteria

Members who provide support for research and educational activities, and who advocate for public policy changes are considered central to the mission of the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth and its research/education programs. Members are selected for their scientific excellence and for their commitment to addressing usage of unhealthy consumer products—particularly tobacco, alcohol and highly processed foods.

Members are professionals who further the research mission of the Koop Institute through an active interest in disease causing products and health.

Membership is conferred by the Koop Institute leadership based on meeting at least one of the following requirements:

  • Conducts scientific, legal or public policy research on disease-causing consumer products.
  • Maintains an active research or clinical program that addresses disease-causing consumer products.
  • Advocates for policies and regulations that reduce the harm of disease-causing consumer products.
  • Is dedicated to and participates in education initiatives that address disease-causing consumer products and health.

Membership will be reviewed annually by the Koop Institute leadership.

Conflicts of Interest

The Koop Institute members seek to avoid financial conflicts of interest, especially with respect to the industries that we study. We urge our members not to accept direct or indirect funding from companies that manufacture the products we study and to publicly declare any and all possible conflicts with those industries.

All faculty members at the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth must share their conflicts of interest annually. A conflict of interest occurs when an individual's outside interests, financial or otherwise, might reasonably lead an independent observer to question whether the individual's actions or decisions in connection with his or her professional activities related to the Koop Institute are influenced by considerations of such outside interests. For Dartmouth faculty, this requirement involves sharing the required institutional conflict of interest statement. Ascertainment of conflicts for non-Dartmouth faculty will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Membership Application

Anyone who wishes to apply for designation as a member of the C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth should send his/her curriculum vitae and a letter describing his/her qualifications to Koop.Institute@Dartmouth.edu. If  the Koop Institute Leadership deems that the applicant meets the membership criteria, a full disclosure of conflicts of interest will be requested.