Institutional Review Board

The Institutional Review Board maintains ethical standards for research that involves human subjects and is an integral part of the professional process for the faculty and the College. 

The function of this Institutional Committee is to formulate, recommend, and oversee policies and procedures for conducting research with human participants. The privilege of conducing human subject research is granted based on a responsibility to engage in ethical research, respecting the rights of participants, and acting in a manner that is consistent with the values of the College. 

The following information is sourced from the U.S. National Institutes of Health at www.cancer.gov.

The IRB protects the rights, safety, and welfare of human research participants by:

• Reviewing the full protocols for planned research studies to ensure that, in its judgment, the research meets the criteria found at 45 CFR 46.111.
• Confirming that the research plans do not expose participants to unreasonable risks.
• Conducting continuing review of approved research at intervals commensurate with the degree of risk of the trial, but not less than once a year, to ensure that human participant protections remain in force.
• Considering adverse events, interim findings, and any recent literature that may be relevant to the research.
• Assessing suspected or alleged protocol violations, complaints expressed by research participants, or violations of institutional policies.

The Belmont Report is available at http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/belmont.html for your access.

The IRB strongly recommends that any researcher submitting for review participate in an online training course offered by the National Cancer Institute. This online course if free and certifies that the researcher has completed training sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As of January 15, 2008, all students applying for approval of research will be required to complete the Human Participant Protection Education for Research Teams prior to submitting an application for review. Reserachers will be required to submit a certificate of completion as part of their IRB application process.