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DHSc ARP Guide: IRB Review Process

This website will serve as a guide for all students enrolled in the Applied Research Project (ARP) course series, DHSC8020 (pre-requisite) and DHSC9015 to 9055. Please refer to the guide often for direction following up with the ARP Facilitator as needed.

ATSU Institutional Review Board

An Institutional Review Board (IRB) must review all research involving human participants before the beginning of the research project. Please note the ATSU IRB is primarily established to review and support residential faculty and student research projects for which it can provide suitable oversight.  Therefore, the ATSU IRB is not equipped to support non-residential or distance student research on human participants that involves invasive procedures (e.g., blood draws), medical devices, medications or nutritional supplements, or others as determined by the ATSU IRB.

IRB Review Process

To submit a project for review, the researcher must complete and submit a Facilitator-approved IRB application form and all supporting materials to the IRB. Your ARP facilitator will work with you to ensure appropriate completion of all documents prior to IRB submission. Materials should be submitted via email to the ATSU-Mesa IRB at MesaIRB@ATSU.edu.

ATSU requires that all investigators listed in the IRB Application (e.g. faculty, students) complete either the NIH or other online training program on human subjects research and the Financial Conflict of Interest Training Course prior to project approval. The ATSU IRB requires that this training be renewed by investigators with active protocols every four years. You will complete this training in DHSC8020 - Research Methods, Design, and Analysis.

Once a study is approved by the ATSU IRB, the investigator cannot make changes to the protocol without prior IRB approval.  The investigator must notify the IRB of any unanticipated problems and any serious adverse events that occur during the study. When the study is complete, the investigator must submit a final report to the IRB(s) within 30 days of study closure. This final report is built into the last ARP course. All of the forms and related instructions for these procedures for the ATSU IRB are found on the ATSU-Arizona IRB website: http://guides.atsu.edu/az_irb.  

You will not be able to recruit study participants or collect any information or data having to do with your study until you have approval from the ATSU IRB. This includes pilot studies or pilot testing of survey instruments or accessing secondary datasets.