Institutional Review Board

Welcome to the website for the Regis Institutional Review Board. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines an Institutional Review Board (IRB) as “an administrative body established to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects recruited to participate in research activities conducted under the auspices of the institution with which it is affiliated.”

Regis has an IRB in order to protect human subjects and to ensure that the potential benefits of research projects outweigh the risks to the participants. In the past, even well-meaning researchers have placed the people in their studies at grave risk. An IRB is an extra safeguard to ensure that researchers are being ethical and that they have minimized the risks to their subjects as much as possible.

To the extent the study requires or involves physical interaction with other people or otherwise occurs within space shared with other individuals there is a risk of transmission of and/or infection by communicable disease including, but not limited to, the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The study will be conducted in compliance with local, state, and federal guidance related to COVID-19, but despite these efforts the risks of transmission and/or infection cannot be completely eliminated.

Meeting and Submission Due Dates

The table below lists the IRB meeting dates and protocol submission due dates. Please note that the protocol due dates are only for protocols requiring a full review. All other protocols can be submitted at any time.

The following documents should be e-mailed to irb@regiscollege.edu:

• IRB Expedited and Full Application
• Informed Consent Document
• CITI Social and Behavioral Research Training Module
• CITI Training Guide

What Research Projects Have to Come to the IRB?

All research involving human subjects must come to the IRB for review before the study begins, regardless of whether the federal government would deem it exempt, eligible for expedited review, or in need of full board review.

All applicants must complete the Social and Behavioral Research Training Module of the CITI training when submitting an IRB protocol. Be sure to allow up to three hours to complete the training, though you can do it in several sittings rather than all at once.

If you are working on a thesis or dissertation, your entire committee does not need CITI training - only the PI, Faculty Advisor, and any other researchers dealing with the data are required to complete the CITI training. The faculty advisor must sign the completed application and submit it to the IRB on behalf of the student.

If you are conducting research with an organization that does not have an IRB, a letter of support from that organization is necessary. If you are conducting research with multiple organizations that have all their own IRBs (i.e., you are dealing with multiple IRBs), you will need IRB approval from all organizations. It is up to the organization or institution where you conduct research which IRB approval should come first. Please note, all logos for the organizations and institutions you are working with should be on your IRB documents.

For more information

IRB Chair