What is an IRB?
An Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an independent committee of physicians, statisticians, community advocates, and others, which ensures that a clinical trial is ethical and that study participants’ rights are protected. Each clinical trial conducted in the United States must be approved and monitored by an IRB, to ensure that the risks are as low as possible and are worth any potential benefits. In the United States, institutions that conduct or support biomedical research involving people must, by federal regulation, have an IRB that initially approves, and periodically reviews, the research.
An IRB is any board, committee, or other group formally designated by an institution (or company) to review, to approve the initiation of, and to conduct periodic review of research involving human subjects. The primary purpose of such a review is to assure the protection of the rights and welfare of the human subjects.
