IBH-PC and Institutional Review Boards

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.]