So what is this “IRB”, what do they do and why
is it important?
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), (in Vermont, aka "the Committees on Human Research"), review and approve human
subject research. IRBs have one paramount responsibility:
To protect the rights
and welfare of human research subjects
The committee review process is designed to
protect the rights and welfare of participants who participate in research by
ensuring that:
·
risks are minimized,
·
subject selection is
equitable,
·
informed consent is
appropriate, and
·
privacy and
confidentiality are preserved.
In addition to approving our research study
protocol, IRBs require that all research staff involved in the project
complete education and training.
IRB approval is taken very seriously. Before we
could begin work on this project, well before human subjects are even involved,
we needed to obtain approval from the University of Vermont’s IRB to
conduct the study. Done J……
And now for the easy part - getting IRB approval from all 40 of the individual
practice sites' IRBs to participate in the study.
This morning, the Cluster Leaders were provided
materials to assist them in getting this project approved by their institution’s
IRB. Every IRB office is
different with unique forms and documentation needs specific to each
organization. Outlined below are the steps we will be using to work through securing
IRB approvals at all practice sites.
Process for Cluster Leaders:
Look
over the documents we sent you.
Assemble
the forms needed from your institution’s IRB office
Fill
out your institution’s forms using the information found in the documents
provided
Send
your completed institution’s forms to Juvena Hitt at UVM to review.
After
review, Juvena will send the forms back to you for submission to your IRB
Office.
Let
us know of any feedback our questions from your IRB office and provide us with
the approval letter once approved.
Please ask any questions along the way. If you need assistance in filling out the forms from your institution -we can help with that as well
Easy, peasy....we hope!
[Thanks to Juvena Hitt for writing this post.]
