Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Our Commitment To Ethical Research Practices
New England Baptist Hospital (NEBH) is committed to treating all research participants in a manner which protects their safety, dignity, confidentiality, and right to be fully informed. To ensure this, the Division of Research supports and guides investigators in the research process.
An Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a group of people formally designated to review and monitor research involving human subjects. The purpose of the IRB is to protect the rights and welfare of individuals who are participating as subjects in the research. The IRB has the authority to approve, disapprove and require modifications to research projects involving human subjects. Once a project is approved, the IRB must monitor the progress of the ongoing research, prospectively approve modifications, and, if necessary to protect subjects, suspend a research project.
The Institutional Review Board meets on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 am.
Seven business days prior to the Institutional Review Board meetings at 3:00 pm.
Turnaround time depends on a number of factors, including but not limited to: completeness of submission; meeting dates; type of review; and the investigator’s responsiveness to an Institutional Review Board request.
Full Board reviews are placed on the next available agenda. Notification of the outcome of the review occurs approximately seven business days after the date of the meeting.
Expedited/Exemption reviews occur approximately five business days after submission to the Institutional Review Board.
Exemption means that the project is not subject to the requirements of the federal regulations (45 CFR 46). A protocol may be determined to be exempt from further IRB review if all procedures fall into 1 or more of 6 specific categories of research described in 45 CRF 46.10(b). A designated Institutional Review Board reviewer makes this decision.
Full Board review is required for all protocols that are not eligible for exemption or expedited review.
Expedited review means that the convened Institutional Review Board need not review the proposed research. Expedited review is appropriate for a protocol that presents not more than minimal risk to subjects. The Institutional Review Board Chair or designated reviewer makes this decision.
Electronically, through the IRBNet website. Contact the Institutional Review Board office for further instruction.
New England Baptist Hospital maintains and supports the Institutional Review Board (IRB) utilizing the industry-leading IRBNet suite of tools, bringing electronic on-line IRB submissions to the New England Baptist Hospital research community.
Some helpful tips may be found here:
Yes, if the project meets the criteria for research with human subjects (your Institutional Review Board office can help you determine this).
Yes. Any activity conducted by an individual who is affiliated with New England Baptist Hospital that involves research on human subjects must be prospectively reviewed by the Institutional Review Board.
Adverse events that are also unanticipated problems must be reported to the Institutional Review Board. Unanticipated problems are any incident, experience, or outcome that meets all of the following criteria (the Institutional Review Board office can give a more detailed definition):
- Unexpected (in terms of nature, severity, or frequency)
- Related or possibly related to participation in the research
- Suggests that the research places subjects or others at greater risk of harm than was previously known or recognized
Any proposed change to the protocol procedures (including subject selection, consent process), personnel, documents (including recruitment ads, study instruments) must be submitted to the Institutional Review Board for review and approval prior to implementation. Any other changes that may affect a participant’s willingness to participate in the study must also be submitted for prospective Institutional Review Board review.
Yes, an investigator needs to inform the Institutional Review Board that a study is being terminated or closed and complete a termination report. A study should not be terminated until all subjects have completed the study and research-related activity has ceased, including subject follow-up, data collection, and/or data analysis.
Collaborative Institutional Review Board Training Initiative (CITI) is an educational program to support the protection of human subjects in research. CITI was developed by experts in the Institutional Review Board community and is focused on different aspects of bioethics and human subject research. The core courses are Biomedical Research and Good Clinical Practice (for those conducting clinical trials). Each module includes educational materials that can either be read on the screen or printed out. A brief quiz follows each module. CITI Certifications need to be up to date and submitted to the Institutional Review Board before beginning human subjects research.
