Welcome to new IRB members; thank you to those leaving.

The IRB will welcome three new members this fall. New members include:

John Borrero, Assistant Professor, Psychology

Leigh Dalton, graduate student, Public Policy

Kelley Gurley, graduate student, Human-Centered Computing

The IRB also wishes to thank student members Gina Fitzmaurice and Satarupa Joardar for their service this past academic year.

The updated roster of Board membership is available on the IRB website.

New IRB members (part 2)

Please welcome additional new members to the UMBC Institutional Review Board who began in the Fall of 2008:

Sarah Chard, Assistant Professor, Anthropology/Sociology

Joseph Clift, Managing Associate/Project Manager, Association for the Study and Development of Community

The updated roster of Board membership is available on the IRB website.

CORRECTION! New IRB members

As reported earlier, Satarupa Joardar, was listed as a Graduate student member in Biological Sciences. Correctly, she is a graduate student in the Intercultural Communication program in the Modern Languages and Linguistics department. Mea culpa, Mea culpa.

New IRB members

Please welcome the following new members to the UMBC Institutional Review Board, beginning in the Fall of 2008:

Gina Fitzmaurice, Undergraduate student member, Health Administration & Policy Program

Satarupa Joardar, Graduate student member, Biological Sciences

The updated roster of Board membership is available on the IRB website.

IRB applications and team members

The applications for IRB review now request that you list the principal investigator, faculty adviser as well as the research team members associated with the research project. The list of all pertinent individuals in the application does two things: 1) it shows the IRB who is associated with the research and that these individuals have completed the CITI training and 2) provides for the necessary documentation in who may be involved in the participant consenting process.

The later point is important for, when we in HARPO go and review protocol files, we find that only those associated with a research project are involved in the consent process and have the necessary knowledge to inform participants about the purposes and intent of a study. Plus, it's a good measure for primary investigators to maintain quality control over how the research is being conducted.

So, fill in all names you, as the primary investigator know will be associated with the study. If you don't know at the time of application (waiting for grad students to come on board or are waiting for those helpful undergrads to sign up for study), send an email to the HARPO office (HARPO@umbc.edu) with the names. We'll at the minimum verify these individuals have completed the CITI training.

The IRB is looking for a few (student) volunteers

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is currently accepting applications from undergraduate and graduate students to join the IRB. Student members are considered full members of the board, which meets five times a year from 10 am-12 pm on Mondays. The meetings are held during the months of October, December, February, April and June. In addition to meetings, student member review research protocols and vote on issues related to the protection of human subjects.

This is a terrific opportunity to learn about ethical issues related to research; and being a member of the IRB looks good on a CV or resume. Interested students should email Susan Sonnenschein, IRB Chair,
(sonnensc@umbc.edu) to apply. In addition to your CV or resume, describe in your email your research interests and experience.

Additional information about the IRB is found at http://www.umbc.edu/irb/.