Members and meetings

The IRB at Mount Holyoke College will be chaired by a tenured faculty member from the social or natural sciences who will appoint the remainder of the IRB in compliance with 45 CFR 46. In order to meet the federal guidelines, the membership must include at least five members of varying backgrounds. There must be at least one member whose primary concerns are in scientific areas and at least one member whose primary concerns are in nonscientific areas. There must also be at least one external member who is not otherwise affiliated with the institution and who is not part of the immediate family of a person who is affiliated with the institution.

A member will not participate in the Board's initial or continuing review of any project in which the member has a conflicting interest, except to provide information requested.

IRB Members and Meetings

The IRB at Mount Holyoke College will be chaired by a tenured faculty member from the social or natural sciences who will appoint the remainder of the IRB in compliance with 45 CFR 46. In order to meet the federal guidelines, the membership must include at least five members of varying backgrounds. There must be at least one member whose primary concerns are in scientific areas and at least one member whose primary concerns are in nonscientific areas. There must also be at least one external member who is not otherwise affiliated with the institution and who is not part of the immediate family of a person who is affiliated with the institution.

A member will not participate in the Board's initial or continuing review of any project in which the member has a conflicting interest, except to provide information requested.

IRB Member List

John Tawa, IRB Chair
Associate Professor of Psychology

Mara Breen
Professor of Psychology and Education

Rebeccah Lijek
Associate Professor of Biological Sciences

Mark Shea
ESOL Coordinator, Lecturer in English

Michelle Theroux, External Member
CEO, Sunshine Village

Janelle Gagnon
Director and Instructor Psychology and Education

IRB Member Training

It is expected that all internal members of the IRB be familiar with human subjects research from current or prior personal experience with such research. Thus, appointments are made in consultation with departments whose faculty typically conduct research involving human subjects. All Institutional Review Board members must also complete training in human subjects protection. via the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI).

IRB Meetings and Recordkeeping

As an appointed Faculty Committee of the College, the Institutional Review Board maintains records of its meetings and decisions, available on request. It sets its meeting dates for each semester of the academic year at the beginning of that semester.

A PI must submit an IRB proposal document, which includes information concerning the purpose of the study, a description of the participants that will be recruited, a detailed description of the procedure of the study, a description of any risks that exceed minimal risk to the participants, and a copy of the informed consent form. The informed consent has to contain a good description of the procedure and any other relevant information the participant would need to make an informed decision regarding their participation in the study, information concerning the voluntary nature of their participation, information on how their data will remain confidential, and any potential risks that exceed minimal risk. In addition, the PI needs to provide documentation of human subjects training, which can be obtained either through the CITI program or through approved coursework.

IRB members review the documents, and can either approve the protocol or ask for further clarification or modifications to procedures so that the project is aligned with OHRP regulations for conducting research on humans. Exempt and Expedited Reviews happen on-line, while review of Full Reviews will take place at a meeting during which time the members of the IRB will convene.

Records pertaining to human subjects that come under Institutional Board purview will be kept for three years after the completion of an approved project, or declination of a proposal. Records will be kept electronically. Records may include: certification of completion in human subjects protection training, applications for approval by the Board, descriptions of project protocol and sample consent forms, sample questionnaires, copies of grant proposals, minutes of Board discussions of proposals, and related memoranda and correspondence.

Research with human subjects Principles and ethics Who must apply How to apply How proposals are reviewed Decisions and appeals

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