While we’re not exactly heading out to claim new territory, the weekly IRB meetings are set to move, beginning Tuesday, June 7. We are returning to our old space in the Biomed 1 building, rooms 205/207 on the second floor. You can enter these rooms from the atrium at the top of the stairs. Those who have been on the board for a while will remember this spot as where we used to hold meetings.
The move is being made mainly for unexciting administrative reasons. One big one is that, as lovely as the Betsy Blass conference room on the 10th floor of the Cancer Institute is, it is not, strictly speaking, “our” conference room. Translated, that means that if someone at the Cancer Institute needed the room at the same time we did, we got booted. While that only happened a handful of times a year, having to find a new room caused lots of headaches for the office staff. That problem should go away after the move back.
Please note that Biomed I requires a UAMS badge for entry. As in the past, we will try to make sure board members who don’t have a UAMS badge on them can get in. Two things we ask of you in this regard — please try to get to the meetings shortly before their scheduled start time, and please program the IRB’s main phone number (686-5667) into your phone. With the number, you’ll be able to call the office and have somebody let you in in case you are badgeless and there’s nobody at the door to open it for you.
As always, thank you for your service on the UAMS IRB.