IRB Chairman interacting with the audience and answering questions raised on IRB matters
 

Vice Provost (Research) Professor Steven Miller sharing on the usefulness of the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Programme

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) at SMU is a committee designated to review and approve social, behavioural and educational research involving human participants. The purpose of the review process is to assess potential risks and benefits posed to human subjects who are participating in research studies, so that appropriate steps can be taken to protect their rights and welfare. To ensure that SMU faculty members, staff and students stay current with evolving practices and procedures that are relevant to review and approval protocols, SMU IRB conducts briefing sessions twice yearly for the community.

The second briefing (click here for slides) for this year was held on 30 September 2014. During the one-hour session, IRB Chairman Professor Gary Greguras introduced the audience to new committee members, explained the different types of review categories and highlighted recent improvements made to IRB processes. He also addressed frequently asked questions on IRB matters. One of the interesting topics discussed was requests from researchers to publish data that was initially collected in classroom settings with no intention to be used as research. Professor Greguras highlighted that most IRBs would not accede to such requests; however SMU IRB would assess them on a case-by-case basis to determine if such data could be published.

Vice Provost (Research) Professor Steven Miller was also present to encourage faculty members and students from all disciplines to complete IRB training under the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). He mentioned that CITI, an internationally recognised web-based educational programme on ethical practices, would be useful as guiding principles should they conduct research work involving human participants. Apart from sharing how SMU IRB would be readily available to provide assistance and advice on how to conduct better research activities, he also asked the audience to support its initiatives in the protection of human participants in research.

Established since 2008, the SMU IRB is committed to the upholding of international ethical standards in research. The Board constantly reviews its policies and application procedures to seek improvements and endeavours to keep the community abreast of IRB matters through various platforms. The next IRB briefing session will take place in February/March 2015. Meanwhile, interested parties can visit the IRB intranet for more information or contact the IRB Secretariat at irb [at] smu.edu.sg for enquiries on IRB matters.

Back to Research@SMU Issue 19 (Oct 2014)