A recent New York Times article has been the talk of the human research protection community of late. The article describes how some participants in an investigational Alzheimer’s disease drug study were not told they had a genetic test result that may have indicated increased risks of the test article for them. The story raises […]

Some CLARA form questions have been revised with the intent of making them clearer about the information requested. In the “Subjects” section of the new submission form, questions about enrollment have been revised to read as follows: How many subjects/charts/specimens do you need to include to be able to complete your study? See help text […]

The IRB, with the assistance of the Human Research Protection Program Advisory Committee, recently completed its annual policy review, and revised IRB policies are now posted on the IRB’s website. A summary of the changes made is available here. Note that we did not edit the grammar on our summary of changes; please excuse any […]

The FDA has released a new guidance titled Electronic Systems, Electronic Records, and Electronic Signatures in Clinical Investigations. The guidance provides information in a Q and A format about the FDA’s expectations for the use of electronic systems and records in research. The guidance also includes a section specific to electronic signatures in research. Do […]

Many study teams use gift cards to compensate research participants for their time. UAMS now limits the gift cards allowed to be used in research to those from the following vendors: Amazon, Tango, and ClinCard. Also, UAMS does not allow study teams to use services such as Venmo or CashApp to pay research subjects. Please […]

The CLARA new submission form will ask you to provide a “lay summary” of your study. Please take some time to draft a complete, short, non-scientific-reader friendly study description in response to this question. Do not cut and paste protocol text, as protocols are written for other scientists. Nor should the answer be limited to […]

The IRB has simplified the process of submitting staff-only modifications. While these forms are still required to be submitted to ensure the study staff lists in CLARA are accurate, they will no longer be “acknowledged” by the IRB. Instead, when you sign off on the form, it will appear in CLARA with a “completed” status. […]

Some study forms and many study sponsors request information about their research sites’ Federalwide assurance, or FWA. UAMS recently renewed its FWA to indicate that we have a new Institutional Official, Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation Dr. Daniel Voth. The new expiration date for our FWA is June 10, 2029. We have also updated […]

The IRB has posted updated versions of IRB Policy 15.1, Elements of Informed Consent, and of Policy 15.3, Waivers of Signed Informed Consent Documents and Waivers of Informed Consent Elements. Policy 15.1 has been revised to make the mandated reporter statements required only “when applicable.” The language about reporting of infectious disease results has always […]

Getting a continuing review (CR) approved can take some time. The CLARA system sends reminders about expiration dates 90, 60, and 30 days before expiration. Please submit continuing review forms to the IRB at least 30 days before your expiration date. A lead time of at least 60 days is preferred. These lead times will […]