What is an Institutional Review Board (IRB)?
An IRB is a federally required committee that is responsible for overseeing research involving human participants. The IRB is responsible for ensuring that human research participants are not mistreated and that their rights are protected.
Why is an IRB Necessary?
In the not-so-distant past, the burden of research lay heavily on vulnerable populations such as children, prisoners, the economically disadvantaged, the elderly, those with cognitive impairments, and minority groups. Unethical human experimentation such as that conducted during World War II and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study resulted in the creation of regulatory and ethical safeguards designed to protect the rights and dignity of participants in clinical trials and research studies.
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) were the ultimate result and are in place to ensure research is conducted ethically and in accordance with federal regulations. IRBs serve as an objective third party, an oversight committee, governed by federal regulations to protect participants and manage risk to those involved in research.
Individual Consultations
The UMass Amherst Human Research Protection Office (HRPO) offers assistance for researchers navigating the Institutional Review Board (IRB) review process. Contact the HRPO at @email to request a consult today.