Human Subjects Protection – Do I need it and where do I get it?

Any research that involves human subjects requires prior approval by the appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB). You will not be allowed to submit an abstract to Lansing Community Research Day (or any other legitimate outlet) without IRB approval. Questions we hear from Lansing area residents often center around which institution’s IRB they should submit their request to since many work with Michigan State University researchers and at Sparrow Health System or Ingham Regional Medical Center. Below are some guidelines to help point you in the right direction.

If you are an MSU sponsored resident/fellow…

You are an MSU investigator and you must submit an IRB application through MSU’s process. MSU maintains three separate IRB Boards. Most likely your area of research falls under the review of the Biomedical and Health Institutional Review Board (BIRB). Click here for a complete description of the BIRB requirements and associated application materials. Please note that the MSU Human Research Protection Program (phone: (517) 355-2180; e-mail: irb@msu.edu) welcomes your questions and will work with you to make sure you understand all the rules and expectations.

If your research involves hospitalized patients at one of the hospitals or you are using the hospitals’ medical records, you must also seek the Sparrow or IRMC Reliance Review. Click Sparrow for the Sparrow Reliance Review application and process, click IRMC application for the IRMC’s Reliance Review Application and IRMC process. Click here for the IRMC IRB process.

If you are a Sparrow or IRMC sponsored resident/fellow and the sponsoring principal investigator is not an MSU investigator…

You must submit your IRB application through your sponsoring institution’s review board. Click here for the Sparrow IRB Office (phone: 517.364.2157; e-mail: irrc@sparrow.org) and here for the IRMC IRB Office (phone: (517) 975-1105; e-mail IRMC-IRB@irmc.org). Please note that all resident/fellow research projects must be sponsored by a responsible principal investigator with privileges at, or paid by, the sponsoring hospital and be qualified in the area of research to be conducted. Applications that do not meet this requirement will not be processed for approval.

If you are a Sparrow or IRMC sponsored resident/fellow and the sponsoring principal investigator is an MSU employed faculty member…

You must submit your IRB application through the MSU Biomedical and Health Institutional Review Board (BIRB). Click here for a complete description of the BIRB requirements and associated application materials. Please note that the MSU Human Research Protection Program (phone: (517) 355-2180; e-mail: irb@msu.edu) welcomes your questions and will work with you to make sure you understand all the rules and expectations.

You will also need to complete your program’s sponsoring hospital reliance review process. Click Sparrow for the Sparrow Reliance Review application and process, click IRMC application for the IRMC’s Reliance Review Application and IRMC process. Click here for the IRMC IRB process.