Kim E. Witmer
AIRI President
Senior Vice
President & Chief Financial Officer
The Salk Institute for Biological
Studies
Membership Information
AIRI provides a variety of valuable services to members, including a
strong presence on Capitol Hill and the opportunity to share common
concerns with individuals from similar institutions across the United
States.
AIRI is represented in Washington by Lewis-Burke Associates LLC, a
government relations firm that has extensive experience on topics related to
biomedical and behavioral research and health care. The firm works closely
with the AIRI leadership to keep members abreast of new developments in
Congress and the Executive agencies including the National Institutes of
Health; to educate policymakers about the contributions of independent
research institutions to leading edge health care and economic development
in this country; and to alert AIRI members to actions they might take to
improve their communications with Washington.
Each fall, AIRI members participate in an annual meeting which includes
renowned speakers, workshops on timely topics and intensive seminars on
issues important to independent research institutions. In addition, AIRI
provides a forum throughout the year for electronic discussions about
personnel and visa issues, salary scales, benefits, recruitment, retirement
plans, and other topics. The directors, managers, and scientists at AIRI
institutions often rate this opportunity for “networking” with their
colleagues as one of the most important benefits of AIRI membership.
Membership Criteria
The Association of Independent Research Institutes (AIRI) is an
association of organizations dedicated to high-quality biomedical and
behavioral research whose mission is to assure and enhance the ability of
its members to improve human health and advance knowledge. In recruiting new
members, the Membership Committee will utilize the following criteria:
- Membership is open to any bona fide independent, not-for-profit research
institute dedicated to excellence in biomedical and behavioral research
which has as a principal purpose the conduct of such research.
- Organization must have its own board of directors. The majority of the
board members may not be appointed by another organization/parent board.
- Applicant institute must be incorporated in its own right and have its
own audited financial statements.
- Applicant must be able to accept grants in its own name, rather than its
grant support having to come through another (parent) organization.
- Organization must be an identifiable institute, not merely a fiscal
conduit that lacks its own employees, administrative staff, and/or sign over
the door.
- Institute investigators must cite the name of the application institution
on their peer-reviewed publications.
- Organizations that are not yet conducting active research and/or in the
process of making changes that would qualify the organization for AIRI
membership may be admitted as provisional members. At such time as they
engage in active research and/or complete the changes, they will be reviewed
for regular membership.
- A provisional member will be eligible to participate in all activities
and receive all of the benefits of regular AIRI members with the exception
of becoming a member of the Board of Directors.
- Provisional members will be reviewed annually to determine their progress
in achieving full membership status.
Membership
Dues
Membership
Application
Contact
AIRI Management Office