January 2004, Issue 1

Changes Afoot at the Health Sciences Campus IRB

The Health Sciences Campus IRB is located on the 8th floor of 35 Kneeland Street in Boston and can be reached at (617) 636-7512. Under the direction of Kate-Louise Gottfried, the IRB office is undergoing major changes designed to improve and streamline its services. Gottfried's goals are to improve the educational materials her group provides to faculty and students at Tufts and Tufts-NEMC and to create a better awareness of issues surrounding research integrity, research compliance, and human studies. Although the current educational requirements for all key personnel in human studies can be found at http://www.tufts.edu/central/research/IRB.htm#req, these requirements are being updated in 2004 to reflect new educational resources and will soon be moved to a newly designed IRB website.

One way the IRB office is helping educate the Tufts community about its issues is the "IRB Tip of the Week" email. Anyone interested in receiving these convenient tips should email the office at irboffice@tufts-nemc.org or call André Briola at (617) 636-1344.

BRAAN (pronounced "BRAIN") is the new word flying around the IRB office these days. BRAAN stands for Biomedical Research and Assurance Network and is an electronic tracking system that will soon replace the IRB's current paper-based system. This efficient new software should be up and running by spring 2004.

For more information, go to http://www.tufts.edu/central/research/IRB.htm.