1) "Set of conditions in which professional judgment concerning a primary interest tends to be unduly influenced by a secondary interest."D.F. Thompson, "Understanding financial conflicts of interest" (1993) 329 New England Journal of Medicine 573-6, 2) A conflict of interest arises when a member (or members) of the EC holds interests with respect to specific applications for review that may jeopardize his/her (their) ability to provide a free and independent evaluation of the research focused on the protection of the research participants. Conflicts of interests may arise when an EC member has financial, material, institutional, or social ties to the research.