Institutional Review Board #1

Touro College’s Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects #1 (IRB #1) is an administrative body established to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects recruited to participate in research activities conducted under the auspices of the College.  IRB #1 is registered with the federal Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP) and received the most recent approval of its Federal Wide Assurance (FWA) on September 30, 2016.

The primary focus of review by IRB #1 is on behavioral, social science, and educational research involving human subjects. Human subjects research conducted at the following schools of Touro College fall under the jurisdiction of IRB #1: the graduate schools of Business, Education, Information Technology, Jewish Studies, and Social Work; the member schools of Touro's Undergraduate Division; and, the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. Additionally, IRB#1 is responsible for review of human subjects research proposed by any office of Touro College's central administration. IRB#1 is not responsible for the review of human subjects research proposed at the College of Osteopathic Medicine, College of Pharmacy, or School of Health Sciences; those schools fall under the jurisdiction of the Health Sciences Institutional Review Board.  Under an inter-institutional agreement and through our approved FWA, IRB #1 also is responsible for human subject research review and protections for Hebrew Theological College, a member institution of the Touro College and University System.

Research involving human subjects for which a principal investigator needs approval from the IRB #1 generally falls into three types of activity:  basic and applied research, whether or not it is externally funded, that is conducted by faculty and other staff members eligible to serve as principal investigators under College policy; masters and undergraduate senior honor thesis research conducted by students, whose faculty advisor must serve as a co-principal investigator on the project; and, on rare occasions, research projects undertaken by students as part of instruction.  Human subjects include not only non-Touro populations, but also would include use of Touro students or staff, for example when a faculty member seeks to conduct research with students enrolled in a course.

The IRB #1 has the authority to approve, require modifications to, or disapprove all research activities that fall within its jurisdiction as specified by both federal regulations and College policy.  Such research activities include those conducted by faculty investigators as well as by students.  The IRB #1 reports to a Human Protections Administrator of the College.  Support functions for the IRB #1 are provided by the staff of the Office of Sponsored Programs.