CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

(a) The oversight committee shall adopt conflict-of-interest rules, based on standards applicable to members of scientific review committees of the National Institutes of Health, to govern oversight committee members, program integration committee members, peer review committee members, and institute employees.

(b) An oversight committee member, program integration committee member, peer review committee member, or institute employee shall recuse the member or employee, as provided by Section 101A.252(a), (b), or (c), as applicable, if the member or employee, or a person who is related to the member or employee within the second degree of affinity or consanguinity, has a professional or financial interest in an entity awarded a grant or applying for a grant from the institute.

(c) For purposes of Subsection (b), a person has a professional interest in an entity awarded a grant or applying for a grant from the institute if the person:

(1) is a member of the board of directors, another governing board, or any committee of the entity, or of a foundation or similar organization affiliated with the entity, during the same grant cycle;

(2) serves as an elected or appointed officer of the entity;

(3) is an employee of or is negotiating future employment with the entity;

(4) represents the entity;

(5) is a professional associate of a primary member of the entity's project team;

(6) is, or within the preceding six years has been, a student, postdoctoral associate, or part of a laboratory research group for a primary member of the entity's project team;

(7) is engaged or is actively planning to be engaged in collaboration with a primary member of the entity's project team; or

(8) has long-standing scientific differences or disagreements with a primary member of the entity's project team, and those differences or disagreements:

(A) are known to the professional community; and

(B) could be perceived as affecting objectivity.

(d) For purposes of Subsection (b), a person has a financial interest in an entity awarded a grant or applying for a grant from the institute if the person:

(1) directly or indirectly owns or controls an ownership interest, including sharing in profits, proceeds, or capital gains, in an entity awarded a grant or applying for a grant from the institute; or

(2) could reasonably foresee that an action taken by the oversight committee, the program integration committee, a peer review committee, or the institute could result in a financial benefit to the person.

(e) Nothing in this chapter limits the oversight committee's authority to adopt additional conflict-of-interest standards.