Welcome to the IRB Homepage. Please note that the news bulletin posted here is always the most recent, but there are more news items on the News page that may be important to you.
Feb. 6, 2018 - Updated Letter Templates
In alignment with last year’s release of the Reliance Agreement letter template with no IRB administrator signature, the IRB has new letter templates for the following determinations:
- Initial Exempt Approval
- Initial Expedited Approval
- Expedited Continuing Review
- Expedited Modification Approval
- Modification Acknowledgement
The new templates are being rolled out this week and will not require an IRB administrator signature.
The IRB SOP section GA 107 describes the written communications which will still require IRB Director, Chair or Executive chair signature. Those situations that require signature are unrelated to routine determination letters which have historically required Administrator level signature.
The IRB is in the process of converting all IRB determination letters to this no- signature format. We will continue to post news updates about these changes as they develop. Questions about this policy may be directed to the IRB POBox general Email irb@pobox.upenn.edu
Jan. 18, 2018 - Common Rule Change Implementation Delay
The government has announced a 6-month delay in the implementation of the revised Common Rule. The revised implementation date is July 19, 2018. The process of submission to the IRB and review/approval will continue unchanged until this date.
If there are elements of the revised Common Rule that end up being implemented prior to July 19th, 2018 they will be posted on the Common Rule section of the IRB website
The full announcement and interim plan, can be found HERE
If you have any questions please contact us.