The University of Connecticut established an ESCRO Committee in 2006. Its name was changed to the Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee (SCRO) in December 2009 to reflect the expansion of its mandate to other types of pluripotent stem cells.
The role of the University of Connecticut's Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee (SCRO) is to ensure that human stem cell research is well-justified and that inappropriate and unethical research is not conducted. Its mandate is to provide oversight of ethical issues related to the derivation and research use of human pluripotent stem cell lines at all schools, colleges, campuses, and research arms of the University of Connecticut.
All research projects in the following categories are required to obtain SCRO approval before acquiring cells or cell lines and commencing research:
- All stem cell research projects funded by the State of Connecticut, including those that do not use human embryonic stem cells;
- All stem cell research involving human embryonic stem cells, pluripotent cells, and their derivatives;
- All stem cell research involving human gametes and human embryos;
- in vitro human induced pluripotent stem cell research involving the generation of gametes, embryos, or other types of totipotent cells;
- in vivo human induced pluripotent stem cell research involving implantation of human cells into prenatal animals or into the central nervous system of post-natal animals.
Review by the SCRO Committee supplement but not replace the usual reviews for compliance with federal, state, and local regulations (e.g. reviews by animal care committees, Institutional Review Boards, Biological Safety Committees, etc.).