Vanderbilt鈥檚 dedicated institutional review board for social,听behavioral听and educational research has reached a major milestone.听
A year after its soft launch, the VU SBER IRB is fully operational and strengthens Vanderbilt鈥檚 support for human-participant research while improving through feedback from the research community.听
The IRB reached its听third and final transition phase in January鈥攕tarting to move eligible social,听behavioral听and educational research studies, which account for more than 90 percent of Vanderbilt鈥檚 human-participant research, from the Vanderbilt University Medical Center IRB to the university鈥檚 review process.听
Collaboration with faculty and research staff is helping the Human Research Protections Program refine processes and build a more responsive and efficient review system for the IRB that supports Vanderbilt鈥檚 discovery and innovation mission.听
鈥淟aunching the new IRB has required significant collaboration among staff, faculty and our partners at VUMC,鈥� said Elizabeth Zechmeister, senior associate provost for research and development and interim chief research officer. 鈥淭his first year has been about building鈥痑 strong foundation鈥痶hat can support Vanderbilt鈥檚 research enterprise. We鈥痑re grateful for ongoing feedback from our research community as we build and refine processes that serve鈥痓oth investigators and research participants.鈥�听
Since the soft launch, the VU Human Research Protections Program has made quick progress.听Program successes:听听
- The new VU SBER IRB has processed听405听studies.听
- Seventeen researchers from across Vanderbilt serve on the SBER IRB committee; their wide-ranging听expertise听ensures rigorous and thoughtful review.听听
- More than 400 researchers have used the HRPP Determination Tool to听establish听whether their studies require IRB review, and by the new VU SBER IRB or by VUMC鈥檚.听听
- Support of international studies and community-engaged research partnerships, an important goal of the new program.听
Ongoing improvements:听听
- Working to streamline the pre-review stage of protocol submissions to reduce turnaround times and minimize clarification requests.听
- With guidance from a faculty working group, redesigned two protocol templates to help investigators provide required information clearly, thus reducing follow-up questions during pre-review.听听
- Expanded HRPP staffing to support researchers; a third HRPP analyst joined the team this semester.听
Researchers should use the听听for all new study submissions.听听Investigators听submitting听modifications to existing studies may use the current templates.听听
The HRPP team听听to answer听IRB and HRPP-related听questions.听Guidance, training听opportunities听and updated resources听for researchers are听on the听.听Researchers can听email听the HRPP team at听irb@vanderbilt.edu听with questions.听
