Andrea Dragan serves as the Director of Quality Assurance & Evaluation within the Rutgers Human Research Protection Program (HRPP), where she leads strategic initiatives to uphold ethical standards and regulatory compliance across more than 8,000 active human subjects research protocols. Her work spans four major chancellor units, supporting a diverse portfolio of biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research.

In her role, Ms. Dragan oversees internal quality improvement efforts, evaluates operational workflows, and implements targeted enhancements to ensure alignment with federal regulations and institutional policies. She also spearheads Rutgers’ accreditation efforts with the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP), guiding the university through its first reaccreditation cycle since earning initial accreditation in December 2022.

Prior to joining Rutgers, Ms. Dragan spent over a decade at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she held multiple roles within the HRPP, including more than six years as Institutional Review Board (IRB) Manager. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Behavioral and Community Health and has maintained the Certified IRB Professional (CIP®) credential since 2013.

Ms. Dragan is a strong advocate for collaborative, education-driven approaches to human research protections. She emphasizes that monitoring and auditing should foster partnership and continuous improvement, rather than punitive oversight. Her work supports researchers in conducting ethically sound and compliant clinical research, and she welcomes engagement around quality assurance practices.