COVID-19 Vaccine and Testing Memo

Dear Research Community,

The IRB Office has a new memo for researchers proposing to list COVID-19 vaccination or testing as Inclusion/Exclusion criteria. If your protocol eligibility criteria require COVID-19 vaccination/testing, please note that the IRB requires that there be a scientific justification for this requirement in your research study. Please continue to follow the Northwestern University guidelines, your hospital/clinic’s or the IRB Office’s COVID-19 symptom pre-screener, and other relevant departmental notices in mitigating risks to the study team and researchers.

Please visit the IRB Office COVID-19 Resources webpage that contains resources and guidance for conducting human participants research during this time, including the document mentioned above. The page can be accessed from the homepage of the IRB Office website and will be routinely monitored and updated as needed. Please also continue to reference the Office for Research COVID-19 Updates webpage.

If you have questions about the above in regards to your human research project, please contact the IRB Office at irb@northwestern.edu or sbsirb@northwestern.edu.

Thank you,

Northwestern University IRB Office