Help

Our help desks are managed by multiple staff members with relevant knowledge. You may receive a response directly from the helpdesk or from another IRB staff member who received your forwarded message.

IRB PO BOX - for general IRB inquiries, including status of review progress, questions,concerns or complaints regarding IRB review - PROVOST-IRB@pobox.upenn.edu. 

HSERA Help Desk - for technical issues with the online submission system - hsera_help@lists.upenn.edu

CITI training Help Desk - for issues obtaining or documenting CITI training - IRBCITISupport@lists.upenn.edu

Ancillary Review Inbox -  In collaboration with various ancillary research review entities at Penn (e.g. CTSRMC, IBC, RRSC,OCR ETC..) the IRB has established a centralized email inbox to receive non-IRB review outcomes. As these entities make determinations regarding new and active research protocols, the outcome letters are shared to this inbox for IRB documentation. The IRB staff then distributes the letters for further review as necessary by relevant stake holders (e.g. IRB members during convened review, IRB Directors, ETC...)

Contract Review Inbox - In collaboration with the Clinical Trials Contracting Unit, the IRB has established a centralized email inbox to receive the outcomes of contract reviews for sponsored research. As contracts are finalized and approved the contract information is forwarded to this inbox for IRB documentation. The IRB staff then distributes the information to the appropriate administrator for review of applicable sections of the informed consent form. We will then contact the study team to inform them of either approval of the informed consent form or any required revisions.

If you are working on getting approval for a new minimal risk study, the following group can help with questions about application requirements and responding to issues raised:

Christy Hullings (hchristy@upenn.edu)

Patrick Landis (plandis@upenn.edu)

Stephanie Lesage (lesages@upenn.edu)

Candace Adams (cadams3@upenn.edu)

Tiffany Finn (tif@upenn.edu)

Once your study has been assigned to an administrator, be sure to stay in contact with that particular person if they reach out to you about your study. Please understand that it is routine for the IRB to return your application for revisions at least once during the review process.

The following administrators can help with questions related to preparing initial, continuing review and modification submissions for studies that are Greater Than Minimal risk:

Renee Crews (rcrews@upenn.edu)

Tim Kenealy (tkenealy@upenn.edu)

Tiffany Finn (tif@upenn.edu)

Please be sure to reach out with questions prior to submitting. Please also note that the level of review required for individual submissions is determined by the IRB after thorough screening.

This list identifies the IRB staff members assigned to each of the 8 boards. If you need help related to a submission that is being scheduled for convened review, please check the HSERA status to identify which board it has been assigned to and contact those identified below:

IRB 1: Tim Kenealy (tkenealy@upenn.edu) and Iyanna Boatwright-Buffaloe (yannab@upenn.edu)

IRB 2: Renee Crews (rcrews@upenn.edu) and Mallorie Jones (maljones@upenn.edu)

IRB 3: Tiffany Finn (tif@upenn.edu) and Kayla M.Serrano (kserrano@upenn.edu)

IRB 4: Patrick Landis (plandis@upenn.edu) and Kayla M.Serrano (kserrano@upenn.edu) / 

IRB 5: Christy Hullings (hchristy@upenn.edu) and Iyanna Boatwright-Buffaloe (yannab@upenn.edu)

IRB 6: Stephanie Lesage (lesages@upenn.edu) and Mallorie Jones (maljones@upenn.edu)

IRB 7: Heather Emery (heathern@upenn.edu) and Iyanna Boatwright-Buffaloe (yannab@upenn.edu)

IRB 8: Candace Adams (cadams3@upenn.edu)

Including all the IRB support staff for a particular board on one email will likely improve communication since these teams work very closely to prepare submissions for convened review.

For complex research submissions (Deviations, Reportable Events, Emergency/Compassionate/Single Patient Use Requests) please contact the following group:

Jessica Yoos (jessyoos@upenn.edu)

Dave Heagerty (heagerty@upenn.edu)

Patrick Stanko (pstanko@upenn.edu)

Dave Heagerty (heagerty@upenn.edu)

Critical information for protection of PHI can be found in this electronic PHI guidance document. Please review the guidance and make sure any PHI protection questions are phrased in context of your specific study.

The following group should be contacted with questions about Penn serving as the IRB of record for another site or group of sites, PennCHOP agreements, or Penn relying on another IRB:

Primary:

Patrick Stanko (pstanko@upenn.edu)

Secondary:

Stephanie Lesage (lesages@upenn.edu)

Tim Kenealy (tkenealy@upenn.edu)

The IRB office is located at 3600 Civic Center Blvd., 9th Floor.