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We're Moving!

May 19, 2017

Starting July 1, 2017 we will be located in the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center, Suite 935, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 01238.  We look forward to seeing you in our new location!

ESTR Update Scheduled for 6:00pm ET Thursday, April 27

April 14, 2017

ESTR will be offline for a configuration update on Thursday, April 27 from 6:00pm ET to approximately 7:00pm ET. With this release, Harvard is adding some configurations to support IRB review, along with policy-based updates.  Release highlights include:

  • SmartForm revisions to clarify prompts and requirements around interest reporting and listing study team members.
  • Activity and workpsace updates to support IRB staff in the review process.
  • Updated PI and Faculty Sponsor assurance to further clairify requirements assocaited with interest reporting and use of non-… Read more about ESTR Update Scheduled for 6:00pm ET Thursday, April 27

CUHS to Transition to OVPR

March 15, 2017

The Committee on the Use of Human Subjects (CUHS) office, staff, and IRB will be moving from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), Research Administration Services (RAS) to the Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) in Central Administration (CADM), effective as of July 1st, 2017.

Historically, the CUHS was constituted as a standing faculty committee of the FAS, and the CUHS staff have remained embedded in FAS despite the growth in volume of human subject research from other university area schools (currently, half of the volume of research studies reviewed by CUHS are from… Read more about CUHS to Transition to OVPR

Undergraduate Research Ethics Training

February 8, 2017

To help undergraduates properly prepare to conduct research, the IRB will offer training in the spring of 2017 (for spring and summer 2017 projects). This training is designed to help you develop a proposal that minimizes risk and to guide you on completing templates for the protocol and informed consent documents.  

Research Ethics training seminars for undergraduates will be offered on the following dates:

ESTR Update Scheduled for 6pm ET Friday, February 3

February 3, 2017

ESTR will be unavailable from 6:00 PM ET to 6:30 PM ET on Friday, February 3. 

This update is being completed to fix the issue where an "unauthorized access" page occasionally displays after log in.  

ESTR Log in Error

January 30, 2017

NOTE: There may be a disruption the first time you attempt to log in to ESTR today. 

Issue: Saved browser cookies will cause a “you do not have permission to view this page” type error when attempting to view a page after log in.

Resolution:
1. Clear your browser cache (instructions for: Internet Explorer,… Read more about ESTR Log in Error

Freeze on New Federal Regulations – Including the Final Rule!

January 27, 2017

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus issued a memorandum to all executive departments and agencies to freeze new or pending regulations -- giving the new administration time to review them. Any regulations that have yet to be sent for publishing in the Federal Register, the memo asks the agency to not send any regulation to the Federal Register until reviewed by someone selected by the President.
 
For those that have been sent but not published, the White House ordered the regulations withdrawn. 
 
There are regulations have been published but have not reached… Read more about Freeze on New Federal Regulations – Including the Final Rule!

GCP Training for Social Behavioral Researchers Now Available

January 27, 2017

NIH's Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research announced that the Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training modules they have developed that are specifically tailored to social and behavioral science researchers conducting clinical trials are now available through the Society of Behavioral Medicine, including for non-members of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

This training may be found at… Read more about GCP Training for Social Behavioral Researchers Now Available

HHS and 15 other Federal Departments and Agencies Announce Revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the Common Rule)

January 18, 2017

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and fifteen other Federal Departments and Agencies have announced revisions to modernize, strengthen, and make more effective the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects that was originally promulgated as a Common Rule in 1991. This final rule is intended to better protect human subjects involved in research, while facilitating valuable research and reducing burden, delay, and ambiguity for investigators.
 
These revisions are an effort to modernize, simplify, and enhance the current system of oversight.
 … Read more about HHS and 15 other Federal Departments and Agencies Announce Revisions to the Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (the Common Rule)

GCP Training Required for NIH-Sponsored Clinical Trials

December 16, 2016

The National Institutes of Heath (NIH) policy on Good Clinical Practice (GCP) training takes effect January 1, 2017. 

This policy establishes the expectation that all NIH-funded investigators and staff who are involved in the conduct, oversight, or management of clinical trials should be trained in Good Clinical Practice (GCP), consistent with principles of the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) E6 (R2).

Does this apply to my study?

If you are conducting a… Read more about GCP Training Required for NIH-Sponsored Clinical Trials