Revised Standards for In-Person Human Subjects Research No Longer in Effect

Picture of surgical masks

Office for Research Protections     |     Institutional Review Board (IRB)


December 13, 2022

Effective immediately, the Revised Standards for In-Person Human Subjects Research are no longer in effect. Study teams are strongly encouraged to follow Best Practices for Conducting In-person Human Subjects Research. Moving forward, in-person research no longer requires review by the COVID Safety Committee via InfoReady. Studies previously approved through InfoReady are encouraged to continue the practices outlined in their protocols.

Under the direction of the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research and overseen by an interdisciplinary, University-wide committee, the Revised Standards for In-Person Human Subjects Research began in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and have adapted as conditions have changed over the past two years. Candice Yekel, associate vice president for research and chair of the COVID Safety Committee, said: “We are grateful for all the support and collaboration we’ve received from the research community as we’ve navigated these unprecedented times. We appreciate everything our researchers did to keep Penn State’s research participants and staff healthy while still moving forward our quality research.” 

The University committee acknowledges the continuing risk of transmissible viruses and diseases, including but not limited to COVID. Yekel noted, “We really want to encourage researchers to continue the positive practices they adapted in their labs during COVID. We’ve published best practices on our website, and we hope that they will allow us to be proactive and not just reactive when it comes to mitigating the spread of transmissible illnesses.”  

More information about human subjects research is available at https://www.research.psu.edu/irb. Questions can be directed to orp@psu.edu.