The plain language consent form on the IRB’s website includes language asking you to clarify whether the study team is able to take information or samples out of the study after the study has started, e.g. if the subject decides to end participation early. If the consent form you’re using doesn’t include this language, the […]

The first installment of our latest continuing education program for IRB reviewers. We’ll have a new topic each month that we’ll post about on the blog and discuss briefly at that month’s IRB meetings. We’re starting with research involving children. Our affiliation with Arkansas Children’s means we not infrequently review human subject research involving child […]

The IRB has updated its basic protocol template, and the new version is now available on the IRB website’s Templates and Training page.  In addition to addressing some issues we’ve noticed ourselves sending a lot of contingencies about, this revised template makes some important updates to the data and specimen handling language. The regulatory oversight […]

Technology advances quickly, and sometimes so fast that ethics and the law have trouble keeping up. Science recently posted an article about legal ramifications of DNA sequencing (“lawsuits” appears in the title). While the article focuses on the clinical side of DNA testing, the issues raised could also apply to research-related DNA sequencing. You may […]

Researchers and the IRB spend a lot of time thinking about appropriate compensation for study subjects. What’s appropriate? What might unduly influence a decision whether or not to join or continuing participation in a study? The compensation model we typically see involves paying all subjects the same amount for participating, prorated for whatever portion of […]

Do you have more than one active account at citiprogram.org? If so, consider merging them so all your training will be consolidated into a single account, and you’ll be able to quickly tell whether you’re current on required training. To merge accounts, please send an email to support@citiprogram.org with the following information: Your name Your […]

Was there a research-related class offered onsite that you wanted to attend, but you couldn’t fit it into your schedule? Check the UAMS Translational Research Institute’s (TRI’s) website to see if it was added to the TRI video library. Topics include Biomedical Informatics, Research How-To’s, Grants and Programs, Research Ethics (click on the “Luminaries Lecture […]

That’s because not only might someone be watching you, but readily available facial recognition software might be able to figure out who  you are pretty quickly. In yet another installment in our fixation on privacy and what changing notions of privacy may mean for research (both conducting and reviewing it), we draw you attention to […]

Every time we use a fitness tracker, or swipe a loyalty card, or check in at the gym, or search Google, we create data. That data doesn’t just disappear – entities can access it for reasons we may never learn about. Here’s a news report about insurers and employers using data from an app designed […]

If you have used, are considering using, or have published about, the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale in a research study, UAMS Attorney Nathan Chaney, J.D., asks that you get in touch with him to let him know (if you haven’t already talked with him about it). There have been some questions raised about the MMAS’ […]