IRB Advisor – April 1, 2011
April 1, 2011
View Issues
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Use of metrics help IRBs improve operations with laser-like efficiency
IRB professionals might not have gotten into the business of protecting human subjects because of their love for mathematics and statistics. But many now are finding that tracking data and analyzing numbers helps them do their job better. -
Improve IRB staffing issues following this good example
When internal job mobility is stagnated, it can result in high staff turnover rates a problem no IRB wants to experience. -
IRB finds solutions to roadblocks in protocol submission process
IRB offices routinely handle protocol submissions that are incomplete or flawed in other fundamental ways. These problems cause roadblocks that slow down the IRB approval process and frustrate investigators and IRB staff alike. -
Educate investigators about waivers, research activities
Investigators, particularly when they are new to human subjects research, often fail to include all necessary information in their IRB applications because they are unaware of what's required. -
State biobank collects bloodspots from newborn screening
The state of Michigan has moved forward with its plan to store blood samples left over from screening newborns for medical conditions in a biorepository that will make the deidentified samples available for research. -
Researchers ignore past studies when conducting new ones
A recent analysis of clinical trials showed that researchers routinely ignored previously published and relevant clinical trials when conducting their own studies. -
Questions about dating violence can help subjects, study says
IRBs sometimes balk at studies that ask sensitive questions about topics such as sex and violence, based on concerns that participants may find them distressing.