Schulman IRB Joins IRBchoice Reliance Network

Cincinnati, OH, and Durham, NC – Schulman IRB, the industry-leading central IRB for customer service and technology, is pleased to announce that it has joined IRBchoice. IRBchoice, which is funded by an R01 from the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, is a national IRB reliance platform designed to provide more efficient and more consistent IRB approvals for multicenter studies.
 
IRBchoice expands upon traditional IRB reliance models to support the full spectrum of research protections by supporting single IRB review of multisite studies and providing access to a national network of collaborators through a single platform used to document and track all reliance relationships. The IRBchoice Master Agreement (IMA) and IRBchoice System together provide unique tools to allow flexibility in reliance while providing the necessary information to ensure all parties (IRBs and investigators) understand their roles and responsibilities.
 
IRBchoice was originally established as IRBshare in 2012 by Vanderbilt University as part of a project to explore novel IRB models for efficient multisite review. After expanding several times, the program was renamed IRBchoice in 2015 to support and promote the use of single IRB review.
 
“The IRBchoice model simplifies the process for institutions to rely on a single IRB for multisite studies, which helps to make industry sponsored and federally funded research more efficient and more consistent,” said Rebecca Ballard, Institutional Official and Vice President of Compliance and Board Operations at Schulman IRB. “Given the ongoing regulatory push toward single IRB review, the IRBchoice model makes a lot of sense. We at Schulman are excited to collaborate with and learn from IRBchoice members.”
 
“As the first independent IRB to join IRBchoice, Schulman IRB can offer unique perspectives and capabilities for the network,” said Todd Rice, MD, MSc, IRBchoice Principal Investigator. “We look forward to working with Schulman to further grow the efficiencies IRBchoice provides institutional partners.”
 
IRBchoice allows IRBs to customize reliance preferences on a study-by-study basis, generating study-specific instructions to help maintain compliance and facilitating transparency between IRBs to support best practices, shared expertise, and increased consistency. A full list of participating institutions may be found at irbchoice.org.