IRBs come in many types, focusing on dramatically different categories of research from Phase I drug research to studies focused solely on education and social science. It may seem at first that the latter entails simpler ethical problems than, say, multisyllabic first-in-human drug trials for cancer, but very low-risk nonmedical research presents its own challenges for the IRB. Read more
We are inviting researchers and IRB members to evaluate two research scenarios that involve passive and pervasive sensor technologies. We are interested in learning what participants think would be concerns from three perspectives: research participant, research team, and IRB member. This research will be used to advance development of decision support tools to support digital health research. Read more
We are part of a research group at Columbia University Irving Medical Center that is participating in the NIH-sponsored Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network study. As part of our site’s exploration of the ethical, legal, and social issues involved in research using polygenic risk scores (PRS), we are conducting a series of focus groups with stakeholders to explore views on these issues. We are interested in IRB members’ perspectives on the ethical and regulatory challenges that can arise from a study like this. Read more
