Sumit Sachdeo has long had his finger on the pulse of medico-legal issues. He earned medical and legal degrees in his native India before emigrating to Canada, where he served as the administrator for a medical clinic for almost a decade. But it wasn’t until his co-op with Mass General Brigham’s Office for Interactions with Industry (OII) that he discovered medical research oversight.

While most researchers would not intentionally violate National Institutes of Health regulations, Sachdeo says that outside associations may present conflicts and must therefore be vetted. “Conflicts of interest happen surprisingly often,” says Sachdeo. “It’s usually innocent. Most researchers are in the field because they enjoy the science. Then someone invites them to become an advisor at a startup, or the researcher simply purchases equity in a company, not realizing that this may create a conflict of interest, taint the research outcome and jeopardize their status as a researcher. They don’t think it through like a lawyer so that’s what the OII has to do.”

Part of Sachdeo’s co-op responsibilities included understanding the research itself. “I feel like I’m living in the Discovery Channel,” says Sachdeo, who is now a full-time senior research associate with OII. “To do the job, I have to understand the role of the researcher with the outside company, what the company does and then compare it with the research and make sure one does not influence the other. I never imagined there would be a need for such a job but now that I’m doing it, I don’t see how any institution involved in medical research could manage without such an office. Every day is different. Every case is different. This is a dream job for me.”