University of Pennsylvania Human Research Protections Program (HRPP) Mission:

  • To promote the ethical conduct of research and ensure the protection of human research participants’ rights and welfare
  • To facilitate excellence in human research by providing timely and high quality review of human research
  • To provide professional guidance and support to the research community

Our Mission

The motto of the University, Leges Sine Moribus Vanae, means “Laws without morals are useless.” It comes from a longer quotation from Horace, “Quid leges sine moribus vanae proficiunt?” the sense of which is “Of what avail are empty laws without (good) morals?”

The Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are federally regulated entities within the Penn HRPP with the mandate to review biomedical and social behavioral research studies that take place within or under the authority of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine. The purpose of review is to determine if the proposed research meets certain established ethical, regulatory, and policy criteria to protect the rights and welfare of the human participants of such research.

What are you looking for?

Frequently Used Services

Forms & Templates

This page is a Penn researcher resource of IRB forms and document templates commonly utilized in IRB submissions.

Education

This page provides information about training required to conduct human research at Penn as well as curated educational sessions offered by the Penn IRB.

IRB Member Toolbox

This page provides guidance and resources for Penn IRB Board members.

Information for Research Participants

The page provides information for research participants, including how to contact the IRB if you have a complaint.

Upcoming Events

Dec 2, 2024 @ 11:30 AM

IRB 1

Dec 3, 2024 @ 4:00 PM

IRB 6

Dec 4, 2024 @ 11:00 AM

IRB 7

Need Assistance?

If you have questions and want to speak with someone directly, there are a few ways to contact us

We also host office hours. Visit our events calendar to see our next scheduled drop in time.
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