NIH Single IRB Policy Implementation

As you were previously notified, the Northwestern University IRB Office has been diligently working to have a process in place for implementing the NIH Single IRB policy at our institution.  At this time we are pleased to notify the research community that the first phase of implementation is ready for rollout.  A dedicated Single IRB webpage has been created and we have updated the relevant SOPs [(HRP-092_External IRBs) and (HRP-093_NU IRB_IRB of Record Multi-Site Research)].  We have also created a Pre-Consultation process to provide assistance to Researchers and Study Teams when preparing the NIH proposals, to determine what IRB should be listed as the proposed IRB-of-Record.

As a part of implementation preparation, we also engaged other units within the Office for Research (e.g. OSR, ASRSP, etc.) and members of the research community.  We would like to thank all who participated in the process development.  We truly appreciate the time the various groups dedicated to providing essential input and feedback regarding the process.

Please take time to review the Single IRB webpage and updated SOPs, and notify us of any questions or comments you may have regarding the process.  The Northwestern University IRB Office is dedicated to facilitating research and any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Northwestern University IRB Office