Office for Research Protections | Institutional Review Board (IRB)
April 1, 2022
The Human Research Protections Program (HRPP) provided updates on their goals for their transition at the March 22 HRPP Updates webinar. Goals for the HRPP transformation were previously announced here.
The goal to develop and implement a Single IRB reliance program has been met. The Penn State IRB can now consider serving as the single IRB for up to five external sites. Single IRB fees will now apply to multi-center/cooperative projects that designate the PSU HRPP as the reviewing IRB. Go to the Single IRB and IRB Authorization Agreements site for more information.
The goal to improve efficiency and review timelines is underway. Studies are currently being reviewed for the first time within eight business days, down from 15. The HRPP continues to work to reduce the turn-around time for approval of new Full Board Clinical Trials at the College of Medicine by 25% (from 92 to 69 days). Additionally, Full Board meeting minutes are consistently approved within two days, and modifications are consistently approved quickly.
The third goal is more consistent reviews by analysts and boards. To achieve this goal, the HRPP continues team-based and office-wide trainings. Staff also continue to develop and use internal resources to align processes. Finally, there are continued improvements to submission and review processes with a focus on streamlining and reducing researcher burden.
Feedback on this transformation will be collected in a survey to be distributed in April as well as focus groups in early summer. The HRPP will share a summary of the results of the survey on our website.
Read about previous HRPP Updates.