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The Florida Department of Health works to protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, and community efforts.
Human Research Protection Program and Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Institutional Review Board
Contacts:
Marcia C. Forbes
IRB Coordinator
850-245-4603
Dr. Robert W. Brooks
Director, Public Health Research
Gavin Grigg
IRB Specialist
850-558-9637
Federal Wide Assurance #: 00004682
The Florida Department of Health is the first public health agency to receive Full Accreditation for its Human Research Protection Program from the Association for Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP). Participants in research can trust the researcher to put participant safety and well-being above all else. AAHRPP-accredited organizations operate more efficiently, provide more comprehensive protections, and produce higher-quality data than non-accredited organizations.
Florida Health’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews research involving human participants to ensure they are protected and the research meets ethical standards. The IRB fulfills requirements under federal regulations at 45 CFR 46 and 21 CFR 56. |  |
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Institutional Review Board Researcher Guidebook
To submit an application for IRB review please click the following link: IRB Manager.
Ethical Review of Research: Protecting Participants in Research
The Department is guided by the ethical principles in the Belmont Report (respect for persons, beneficence, justice) for reviews of all research, and expects researchers to also uphold these principles in research.
- Respect for persons is the obligation to protect the personal dignity and autonomy of individuals and special protection of those persons with diminished autonomy by ensuring an appropriate process of consent, protections for privacy and confidentiality, and additional safeguards for the rights of vulnerable populations.
- Beneficence is the obligation to secure the well-being of participants in research by maximizing benefits and ensuring risks to participants are minimized.
- Justice involves substantive obligations such as ensuring fairness in the distribution of research benefits and burdens, and procedural obligations such ensuring consistency in applying standards, transparency of decision-making, and ensuring a meaningful process of public engagement.
Institutional Review Board
The purpose of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) is to review research involving human participants to ensure participants are protected and the research meets ethical standards. The IRB is created in Section 381.86, Florida Statutes and fulfills requirements under federal regulations at 45 CFR 46 and 21 CFR 56.
Sample Human Subject Research Determination Worksheet
Membership requirements are specified in federal regulations. The IRB has one or more unaffiliated members; one or more members who represent the general perspective of participants; one or more members who do not have scientific expertise; one or more members who have scientific or scholarly expertise; and, when the IRB regularly reviews research that involves vulnerable participants, one or more members who are knowledgeable about or experienced in working with such participants.
The State Surgeon General appoints all members for a term of three years, which may be renewed.
Would You Like to Serve on the IRB?
Interested applicants will need to complete the DOH Online Appointment Questionnaire for appointment consideration. If you have any questions regarding the IRB or appointment process, please contact the board coordinator at 850-558-9628.
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