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
The Latest News from IRB
Jan 6, 2023 @ 12:00 PM
New IRB Requirements: 2023 NIH Policy for Data Management and SharingThe IRB has released guidance on associated IRB requirements related to the 2023 NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing of scientific data generated from NIH funded research.
Sep 26, 2022 @ 3:39 PM
New & Updated GuidanceA new guidance on NJ state laws that are applicable to research is now available on the IRB website. The PA state law guidance and NJ state law guidance are both available under Applicable State Laws in Human Subjects’ Research online.
Sep 26, 2022 @ 11:11 AM
New Informed Consent TemplatesThe Biomedical and Social Behavioral Consent form templates have been updated. Additional guidance has been added in multiple sections throughout the documents to better set expectations and assist study teams with developing consent forms. Likewise, some template language has been adjusted for clarity and to better align with regulatory requirements.
Need Assistance?
If you have questions and want to speak with someone directly, there are a few ways to contact us