Jerry Castellano receives 2018 ARENA Legacy Award

Jerry Castellano, Pharm.D., corporate director of Christiana Care’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), has received the 2018 ARENA Legacy Award from Public Responsibility in Medicine & Research (PRIM&R), an independent organization that aims to advance the highest ethical standards in the conduct of biomedical, behavioral and social science research.

The award honors Dr. Castellano for his many contributions to PRIM&R and for fostering leadership, education and mentorship among the institutional review board field.

Dr. Castellano has left an enduring mark on the PRIM&R community as well as the wider research ethics field. “It is with enormous gratitude that we are honored to present him with the ARENA Legacy Award,” according to PRIM&R.

He has been an active member of PRIM&R since joining the Applied Research Ethics National Association (ARENA) in 1996. He was a member of the ARENA Council, serving as the mid-Atlantic regional representative from 1996 to 2006, and as treasurer from 2004 to 2006. He has been a member of the Council of Certified IRB Professionals for 14 years.

In addition to his position as the corporate director of the IRB at Christiana Care, he also serves on Christiana Care’s Ethics Committee and on numerous departmental research committees. He has been a member of the IRB at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, a consultant to the State of Delaware IRB and has served on the executive advisory committee of the Collaborative IRB Training Initiative for the past 10 years.

Castellano has been active in the community with the Think First Injury Prevention Program (Delaware Chapter), Delaware Bioscience Alliance and served as a board member of the Delaware Stroke Initiative. He gives community based lectures on biomedical research and advanced directives, and serves as a guest lecturer for many support groups.

He has authored numerous publications and given lectures throughout the country and internationally on a variety of topics on research and biomedical ethics, institutional review boards and conflicts of interest. He has also served on expert panels involving human research subjects protections.