Regulatory
Information on the IRB
What is the IRB?
IRB is an acronym for Institutional Review Board for Human Use. UAB has two IRBs. Together, they review all research conducted at UAB or by UAB faculty, staff and students research procedures that involves human subjects.
The IRB also has jurisdiction over research involving UAB data on human subjects. The IRB can approve, require modifications in, or disapprove all research activities that fall within its jurisdiction.
The aim of the IRB review is to ensure that research involving human participants is conducted in an ethical manner. This includes ensuring that risks to participants are minimized, the selection of participants is equitable, and participants are informed fully of what their participation will entail and of the potential risks and benefits.
For purposes of human subject protection, how is research defined?
Research is defined by the regulations as “a systematic investigation, including research development, testing and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.” If you are conducting a study that you expect to publish or report in a public forum, you should consider it research and subject to IRB jurisdiction if it involves human subjects. If you are collecting data only for internal use, for example to improve customer service in your department, you are not doing research.
Who must obtain advance approval if humans are proposed as subjects of research?
Faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows, and students (undergraduate or graduate) must obtain IRB approval before involving humans (or data collected about or from humans) as subjects of research. If you are unsure whether your research needs approval, contact the IRB for clarification. If you are a student, your advisor may have obtained IRB approval for the study that you are conducting. If you think that this is the case, it is important to verify it before you start.
Ultimately, who is responsible for all research activities that are part of a project?
As stated in federal regulations and UAB policy, the Principal Investigator of the study is responsible for all activities relating to the research study. Delegation of authority does not delegate responsibility.
How can the CCTS Regulatory Knowledge and Support component assist investigators who are new to human subject research?
The Research Subject Advocate (RSA) office can assist investigators with questions related to IRB submissions and the consent process, the development of appropriate data safety monitoring plans, and compliance with regulatory reporting requirements.
The RSA office is available to meet with research participants to review “participant’s rights,” observe the consent process, and assess participant’s understanding of the consent process.
To request assistance, please contact Kathleen Powell, PhD at 205-975-6023 or by email kpowell@uabmc.edu.
Research Tab on BlazerNet
Where can you find links to most of the administrative information you’ll need for grant or contract submissions?
The Research Tab of BlazerNet has links to all Research Administration offices and regulatory units, funding opportunities, proposal development and submission resources, research training opportunities, compliance courses, and more, including announcements, quick links to frequently accessed items, award data, and information about the responsible conduct of research. Login to blazernet.uab.edu with your BlazerID and password and click the Research tab.
Personalize layout and content on BlazerNet
You can personalize the tabs and channels the research page or create your own customized view on the My Stuff Tab. Some changes you can make include:
•Reorder your tabs
•Add channels to existing tabs
•Reorder channels on a given tab
•Remove unneeded channels
You may not be able to perform all of these layout changes on every tab or channel.
Please be careful when making changes to your layout! These changes are permanent, and the prior settings cannot be restored without completely resetting your account back to its original layout. For more specific information on how to personalize the layout from the User Preferences page, click the Help icon located in the system toolbar and then select the topics within the Portal folder displayed in the Help Index Menu.
