The Institutional Review Board (IRB)

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an organizational body recognized to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects enlisted to participate in research activities conducted under the umbrellas of the institution with which it is affiliated. The purpose of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) is to make certain all institutional research topics and progress abide by the University’s ethical standards, and that includes United States or any other country’s federal regulation on privacy approach of human participants. The IRB has the authority to approve, disapprove, monitor, and require modifications in all research activities that fall within its jurisdiction as specified by both the federal regulations and institutional policy. The basic types of IRB Review are: Comprehensive, Exempt, and Not Regulated.

The IRB reviews all studies to ensure that:

• The research uses procedures consistent with sound research design.
• The research design could allow the proposed research questions to be answered
• The risk/benefit relationship is acceptable.
•  The purpose and specific aims are clear and feasible, and the research will contribute to generalizable knowledge.