We are pleased to announce that the IRB will soon be rolling out an updated Informed Consent Form (ICF) template to support your study submissions. Many of you may remember that we previously offered a consent template but discontinued it some time ago. We’ve heard strong and consistent feedback from investigators and study teams that a standardized […]
Read MoreIRB service is a core faculty responsibility that brings peer expertise to ethical review and helps maintain reliable review timelines. As research activity at the University of Utah continues to increase, maintaining timely and high‑quality IRB review requires participation from faculty in all departments. Some departments with active research submissions have limited or no faculty […]
Read MoreBeginning March 5, 2026, the University of Utah IRB will host office hours every Thursday from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM MT via Zoom. Office hours are on a first-come, first-served basis, and is a space for students, faculty, and staff to ask questions about human subjects research at the University of Utah. You can review office hours information […]
Read MoreModernizing Biosafety (IBC) Regulations On September 9, the NIH announced plans to modernize their biosafety regulatory framework. You can see details here: https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/nih-director/statements/nih-launches-initiative-modernize-strengthen-biosafety-oversight and here: https://osp.od.nih.gov/policies/biosafety-and-biosecurity-policy/#tab2/ The NIH has indicated the new regulations will align with risk, lower regulatory burden for low-risk research, expand oversight beyond work with recombinant and synthetic nucleic acids, and empower IBCs. […]
Read MorePlease plan for a little extra time during the upcoming holiday season for application approvals, as some of our meetings will be canceled; see schedule below. November 26, 2025 (day before Thanksgiving): Regular IRB board meeting December 24, 2025 (Christmas Eve): Canceled board meeting December 31, 2025 (New Year’s Eve): Canceled board meeting January 7, […]
Read MoreNew IRB Guidance We are excited to share two new guidance pages designed to help you understand when IRB review is required and when a project may be Non-Human Subjects Research (NHSR). These resources provide more information about projects that may not need to be reviewed by the IRB. These resources intended to provide you […]
Read MoreThe Clinical Research Support Office is aware of escalating fraudulent activity impacting participant debit cards and the significant burden this could place on your participants to submit fraud claims to the Hyperwallet Visa team. It is unacceptable that some participants are receiving cards with depleted funds due to this activity. We understand that replacement cards […]
Read MoreThe NIH and HIPAA have guidance and regulations regarding mandatory future use of biospecimens and/or data collected in research that offers treatment/intervention to participants. NIH guidance focuses on ethical considerations, voluntariness, undue influence, and coercion of mandatory contribution of data/biospecimens for future use. HIPAA regulation defines access to and use of PHI in “conditional” […]
Read MoreTo support thorough risk assessment, the IRB is now asking study teams to upload any questionnaires or surveys (including validated surveys) used in studies under the Surveys, Questionnaires, Etc. section of the Documents & Attachments page in their IRB application. This helps the IRB evaluate the nature of questions participants are asked, especially when these […]
Read MoreWe are thrilled to announce the promotion of Hannah Owen to the role of IRB Associate Director. Hannah demonstrates exceptional leadership, deep expertise in research ethics, and a steadfast commitment to protecting the rights and welfare of research participants. We are excited for her collaborative spirit, strategic thinking, and dedication to excellence to continue making […]
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