Institutional Review Board for Human Research (IRB)
The Medical University of South Carolina supports three Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) that provide the primary review and approval of all human research protocols at MUSC.
The IRBs, as well as the principle research investigator, are responsible for safeguarding the rights and welfare of human subjects who participate in research.
The IRB committees are comprised of scientists from varied research disciplines across the campus as well as volunteers from the local community.
History and Current Status
The IRB at MUSC began in 1966 as a subcommittee of the University Research Council. In 1995, the IRB became two independent boards and, in 2001, a third board was convened.
IRB I and IRB II handle all non-corporate sponsored protocols, with each college, department and division of the university assigned to one of these two boards. IRB III handles all corporate sponsored protocols, for all colleges, departments and divisions of the university.
Currently, there are approximately 1,500 approved protocols active across the 3 IRBs, ~700 of which have undergone full board review, ~ 400 by expedited review and ~ 300 were exempt. IRBs I and II each have approximately 600 active protocols. IRB III has approximately 300 active protocols.
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