Monday, October 19, 2001

Important Notice for All Faculty and Staff Who Submit Proposals

Federal guidelines now require that each institution engaged in research involving human subjects establish an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to review and approve such research projects. Dr. Paul Rasmussen of the Department of Psychology is Chair of Furman University's IRB Board. Most of the research reviewed by IRBs falls within the broad categories of biomedical or behavioral research. IRBs will recognize the particular aspects of biomedical and behavioral research in their review of protocols.

Furman faculty engaged in research using human subjects must contact Dr. Moss and provide information the IRB Board will need to conduct initial and ongoing reviews of the clinical research. Reviews will ensure protection of the rights, safety and well-being of the human subjects participating in those trials. If a faculty member is preparing a grant proposal seeking funding for a research project that will use human subjects, the faculty researcher must notify Dr. Moss and receive the required IRB approval before submitting the proposal for funding consideration.  The forms required for review are in Furman's IRB Guidebook.

Similar guidelines apply to those investigators using animals in research. Dr. William Blaker, Department of Biology, is Chair of Furman's Animal Care Committee. He must be notified if animals will be used in research projects.