HRSB Statutes & Bylaws

The officers of the Health Research Science Board ("Board") shall be the Chairperson and the Vice Chairperson. The Chairperson shall be designated by the Governor. The Vice Chairperson shall be selected by the Chairperson and shall serve for one year or until his or her successor has been selected.

The Chairperson shall have responsibility for the general supervision of the work of the Board. The Chairperson shall preside at Board meetings. On matters the Board has voted on for presentation, the Chairperson may represent the Board before the Governor, committees of the Legislature, or other public authorities, and may request any member or members to appear with him or her in his or her stead. The Vice Chairperson, in the absence of the Chairperson, shall perform the duties of the Chairperson.

In the absence of the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from any meeting, the Chairperson and/or Vice Chairperson shall recommend one of its members to preside during such absence.

Members of the Board and its committees shall comply with Section 74 (Code of Ethics) of the Public Officers Law as amended. In so doing, no member of the Board or committee shall make, participate in making, or in any way attempt to use his or her position to influence a decision to approve or award a grant, loan or contract to:

a) His or her employer or relative, or any entity in which the member of the Board, or his or her relative has a financial interest; or

b) An organization in which such member of the Board, or his or her relative, is an officer, director or partner of such organization.

If any member knowingly and intentionally violates these provisions, the Board Chairperson shall refer the matter to the Commissioner of Health for appropriate action.

To preserve the public trust, Board and committee members are prohibited during the tenure of their appointment from applying for, or receiving support for applications submitted pursuant to Section 2411(e) of the Public Health Law or receiving support from the Breast Cancer Research and Education Fund under Section 97-yy of the State Finance Law, or from having any role or interest (other than routine professional and collegial interest in the success of their institution or department) in applications submitted for consideration by the Board or committee.

For purposes of this Article, "relative" of any Board or committee member shall mean any person living in the same household as the individual and any person who is a direct descendant of that individual's grandparents or the spouse of such descendant.

a) Absolute Disqualification

A Board or committee member shall be disqualified before Board or committee discussion and vote when said member, or his or her relative has an interest, financial or otherwise, whether as owner, officer, director, fiduciary, employee, consultant or supplier of goods or services regarding a facility, agency or program or activity in:

i. an application for a grant from the Breast Cancer Research and Education Fund, under Section 2411(1)(e) of the Public Health Law; or

ii. a request for access to Pesticide Registry or pesticide application information, under Section 2411(1)(d) of the Public Health Law.

Specifically, the Board or committee member shall disclose the conflict of interest, absent himself or herself from any portion of a meeting and not participate in any vote related to the disqualifying matter.

b) Disclosure and Possible Disqualification

A Board or committee member shall disclose when said member, or his or her relative has (i) any of the above-noted interests in a facility, agency, program or activity, the status of which might reasonably be affected by another facility, agency, program or activity whose grant application or request for access to Pesticide Registry or pesticide application information before the Board or committee, or (ii) has any other interest or association which might reasonably be construed as tending to embarrass the Board or committee or elicit public suspicion that he or she might be engaged in acts in violation of his or her trust as a member.

Specifically, the Board or committee member shall disclose such interest or association so that the Chairperson of the Board or committee can determine whether the member’s participation in the discussion or vote of such application or request or the vote of the Board or committee thereon would be proper. The Chairperson's decision may be overturned by the affirmative vote of a majority of those present, excluding those members who are the subject of the vote.

If any member of the Board or its committees knowingly and intentionally violates these provisions, the Board Chairperson shall refer the matter to the Commissioner of Health for appropriate action.

The Department of Health ("Department") shall designate a Department employee as the Board's Secretary.

The Secretary shall prepare and send official notices of actions of the Board and shall administer the daily business of the Board under the general direction of the Chairperson. The Secretary shall send a copy of the minutes of each meeting of the Board to each member of the Board as soon as practicable after the meeting. The minutes, as approved or corrected, shall serve as the official record of a meeting of the Board. Minutes shall be distributed or made available to the public two (2) weeks from the date of such meeting and stamped as "Draft." After they have been approved by the Board the meeting minutes will be available to the public and the word "Draft" will be removed.

The Secretary shall make available records requested under the Freedom of Information Law and make announcements to the media and public of scheduled meetings as required by the Open Meetings Law.

The official headquarters of the Board (at which the official copies of its minutes, records, documents and other papers shall be kept) shall be at the offices of the Commissioner of Health at Albany, New York. The Secretary shall be responsible for the safe-keeping of all minutes, records, documents, correspondence and other items belonging to the Board.

a) Meetings

The regular meetings of the Board shall be held at least six times during the first year subsequent to December 1, 1997, and at least two times a year and as needed thereafter.

Special meetings of the Board may be called by the Chairperson at his or her discretion, or on the request of two members, and shall be called by the Chairperson on the written request of three members.

At least one meeting each year shall be a public hearing at which the general public may question and present information and comments to the Board with respect to the operation of the Board, the Breast Cancer Research and Education Fund, and pesticide reporting established pursuant to Sections 33-1205 and 33-1207 of the Environmental Conservation Law. At the public hearing, the Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation or his or her designee shall make a report to the Board with respect to the efficiency and utility of pesticide reporting established pursuant to Sections 33-1205 and 33-1207 of the Environmental Conservation Law.

b) Meeting Notification

The Secretary shall notify each Board member of Board meetings and shall send an agenda and related meeting materials to his or her usual address not less than ten business days before the meeting, or to the extent practicable. Public notice of the meeting shall be provided on the Department’s website.

c) Quorum

A majority of the voting members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business or the exercise of any power or function of the Board and all matters requiring action shall be passed by a vote of a majority of the voting members of the Board. (A voting member abstaining from a vote shall be counted as present for the purpose of establishing a quorum.)

d) Open Meetings

Meetings of the Board shall be noticed and conducted in accordance with the requirements of Article 7 (Open Meetings Law) of the Public Officers Law. Such meetings shall be open to the public except when otherwise provided by law. Guidelines for observers shall be adopted by the Board.

e) Order of Business

The order of business may be altered at the Chairperson's discretion or upon the request of a Board member. A portion of each Board meeting shall be set aside for the development of an agenda for the next Board meeting and for public comment.

Except as provided herein, all meetings shall be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, and a record of each vote shall be maintained. The normal method of voting shall be by roll call. A roll call vote on any question shall be taken by ayes and noes and abstentions noted in the minutes. Non-voting ex officio members of the Board may make motions to be considered by the Board, but may not vote on these or any other motions before the Board.

a) Committee on Access to Pesticide Registry and Pesticide Application Information

This committee is established for oversight and management of information requested by researchers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Pesticide Sales and Use Registry and from private pesticide applicators.

This committee will meet only upon receipt of such requests. To ensure appropriate balance, the membership of this committee shall be determined by the Department of Health in consultation with the Board Chairperson. The Board Chairperson shall appoint a staff member from NYSDOH’s Center for Environmental Health to serve as committee Chair. The Chair of the committee will be non-voting, unless the vote is necessary to break a tie.

b) Ad Hoc Committees

The Board may, at any time, establish a committee on any subject and define its duties. All such committees not previously discharged by the Board shall be considered discharged one year following their appointment, unless the Board shall move to continue them. The Board Chairperson shall appoint all ad hoc committee members in consultation with Board members and designate their Chairpersons. A majority of the committee members present, shall constitute a quorum for all committees. Each committee member may have the authority to vote unless otherwise stated by the Board when the committee is formed.

a) Independent Scientific Review

Department staff, on behalf of the Board, will establish one or more independent scientific review panels to review and score applications for merit and to make recommendations to the Board for funding. Each panel shall be composed of at least one breast cancer survivor and/or activist, and one expert in breast cancer research and/or education. The number of independent scientific review panels will be dependent on the number of applications received by the Board.

The guidelines used by the independent scientific review panels will be developed by Department staff and approved by the Board. Such guidelines will conform to procurement practices of the Department and generally, to those widely accepted within the scientific community and supported by the National Institutes of Health.

A summary of the application review and scoring process will be presented to the Board. Following the Board's recommendations to the Commissioner of Health, a summary of award recommendations will be made available to the public.

b) Responsibilities of the Board

The Board shall consider and rank applications considered by the independent scientific review panels. Following an affirmative vote of Board members, the Board shall recommend that the Commissioner of Health approve those applications the Board determines are meritorious for which funding is available. Board or committee meetings, or portions thereof, at which Board or committee members consider, rank or discuss applications may be conducted in executive session as authorized by the Open Meetings Law. Any subsequent vote to approve those proposals for recommendation shall be held in open meeting.

These Bylaws may be amended by the affirmative vote of the majority of the voting members of the Board at any regular or special meeting, provided that notice and copy of the proposed amendment has been sent by the Secretary to each member of the Board at least ten business days prior to the vote.