Category Archives: Reviewing IRB

Update: Aligning the IREx Study-Specific Reliance Plan with the SMART IRB Agreement Implementation Checklist and Documentation Toolkit

IREx’s Study-Specific Reliance Plan (SSRP) was harmonized with the SMART IRB Agreement Implementation Checklist and Documentation Toolkit, which documents how the Reviewing IRB and Participating Site HRPPs will handle any flexible elements of the reliance agreement such as auditing, SOPs, insurance, external reporting, etc. This does not impact existing reliance relationships. The updated SSRP will only appear for studies created on or after April 25.

New Feature: Local Context Module 2

IREx released a second local considerations module to accommodate studies where consent documents are created by the Reviewing IRBs / Coordinating Centers. In this new module, Participating Sites will enter their local consent language directly into IREx as they would like it to appear on the consent form. Then, the final consent document will be generated on behalf of Participating Sites by the Reviewing IRB or Coordinating Center. Additionally, this new local context module provides a CSV download of all survey responses.

New Feature: Capture Study-Specific Local Context from Participating Sites

IREx released a local context/local considerations module to allow Reviewing IRBs to centrally capture study-specific local considerations for each site, using standardized surveys and questions aligned with national sIRB initiatives.

The local considerations module has two surveys: 1) The Human Research Protections (HRP) survey asks about requirements of any applicable state or local laws, regulations, institutional policies, standards, or other local factors, including local site ancillary reviews, relevant to the specific study or trial that would affect the conduct or approval of the research at your institution, as well as the consent form for this study. This is completed by the Participating Site HRPP Liaison; and 2) the PI survey asks about the conduct of the study at your site and is completed by the Participating Site PI. The Participating Site HRPP must verify the PI survey responses.

New Feature: Multi-site Liaisons for users overseeing multiple FWAs

IREx supports institutions that oversee or provide HRPP functions for multiple FWAs using the Multi-Site Liaison feature. IRB/HRPP Liaisons can be set up as “Multi-Site Liaisons” to manage multiple FWAs with one user account. Multi-Site Liaisons can easily manage Institutional Profiles for each FWA, as well as indicate reliance and access approval documents each FWAs, even within a single study, in IREx. Contact the IREx team to be set up as a multi-site Liaison.