Boston College
Office for Research Protections 

February 2010 Boston College IRB Newsletter                                                          
In This Issue
Latest News
New Procedures
Reminders
Quick Links
IRB Meetings
February 17, 2010
March 17, 2010
April 21, 2010
May 19, 2010
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Office for Research Protections (ORP)

Welcome to the first IRB newsletter in 2010! ORP looks forward to working with you to help facilitate a positive experience with the IRB. Please remember that ORP is only a phone call away waiting to answer your questions and guide you through the IRB process. We hope you all have a terrific year!
 
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
 
The Office for Research Protections (ORP) provides administrative support to the IRB. The IRB's mission is to protect the rights and welfare of human participants who volunteer to take part in research at Boston College. Federal regulations and University Policy require prospective review and approval of all human subject research conducted by faculty, staff, or students.  As with Boston College's Jesuit tradition of excellence, service and beneficence, the goal of the IRB is to ensure the safe and ethical treatment of research participants.
Latest News
  • In order to help serve the Boston College research community better, we have revised our application forms. Kindly note that from this point forward these new forms will be the only IRB forms accepted. If you have a previous copy of an old form saved to your desktop please make sure you update it. Please refer to our website for the new forms. 
     
  • Our website has undergone some changes which we hope will help you navigate your way through the application process. Please visit our newly improved website. 
     
  • We are pleased to announce that ORP is now sending out continuing review reminder emails. These emails are sent in advance of the expiration date of your protocol which we hope will help you avoid any lapses in approval. Remember that expedited protocols are only approved for one year!
New Procedures
  •  According to the current IRB policy, protocols involving minors (children under age 18) do not qualify for exempt review. The federal regulations require IRB's to employ extra protections to vulnerable populations such as children, prisoners and pregnant women. Therefore, the IRB decided to treat all children in research as a vulnerable population and require expedited review. If you plan to conduct research with children, please complete an expedited application. Please note that the same information is required for both exempt and expedited applications, and the approval process for expedited applications typically involves only ten additional days.
Reminders
  • If your study is not renewed prior to the expiration date, you and the University will not be in compliance with either federal regulations or Boston College policy. Data that is collected during an unapproved period, no matter how short that period may be, may not be used in the project. Participants should not be recruited or consented during an unapproved period.
  • Please remember that faculty and staff initial protocols must be signed by the Dean/Chair of the department.
  • Undergraduate student research may be subject to IRB review. If the project contribtues to generalizable knowledge and/or will be published or presented at meetings, the PI student should seek IRB approval. In situations where the results of the research remain between the professor and student, this is considered a classroom project and does not necessitate IRB review. 
  • Projects that are in the data analysis phase require a continuing review application.
  • ORP and the IRB remain operational during the summer months.