Effective August 30, 2004, project teams (including principal investigators, research assistants, major advisors, and staff) conducting research with human participants will be required to successfully complete the online training module. This training module is available at http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php. The certificate of completion for these training modules must be submitted to the IRB Office with any new IRB application or request for extension in order to obtain approval for any protocol involving human participants in research. This certificate of completion will remain valid for a period of three years and must be renewed at the beginning of each new three-year period in order to receive approval for any new research or extensions for continuing research.  This required training applies to all levels of review: Exempt, Expedited, and Full Review studies.

This policy is being implemented as a requirement of the terms and conditions of TWU’s current Federalwide Assurance. The IRB Chairs, Director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, Dean of the Graduate School and Research, and Provost have been involved in establishing educational and training oversight mechanisms.  In order to fulfill the mandate as set forth by TWU’s Federalwide Assurance, the above policy change at TWU is being made.

We do believe that this training module provides valuable information about conducting research with human participants and can be a valuable training tool for our students, faculty, and staff about the responsible and ethical conduct of research using human participants. Our office will be available to answer questions. You may call our office at ext 3375 if you would like for a representative of our office or the IRB to discuss this policy further either with you individually or with a group.