What is a Federal Wide Assurance (FWA)?
The Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) mandates that each institution’s Institutional Review Board be registered with the OHRP. Our Portland VA Medical Center IRB operates under an OHRP approved Federal Wide Assurance (FWA). We, as an institution, must be compliant with the terms set forth in the FWA for protecting human subjects and renew this FWA every three years. The FWA states that our IRB and the VA Central IRB (applicable for studies determined by ORD to be candidates for review by the VA Central IRB) are responsible for abiding by the federal regulations set forth in Title 45 Part 46, regarding the protection of human subjects, and that the Medical Center Director is the Signatory Official legally authorized to represent the institution.
