RD229 - Activities of the Virginia Department of Health Institutional Review Board for Calendar Year 2005


Executive Summary:
Regulations for the conduct of human research, developed and approved by the Board of Health, became effective on July 1, 1993. According to those regulations, prior to the initiation of a human research project by any institution or agency funded or licensed by the health department, a description of the proposed human research project shall be submitted to a research review committee for review and approval. The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) had been relying on the research review committees of academic institutions around the state; however, this precluded VDH’s ability to conduct research that did not have a co-investigator at an academic institution. A committee was formed in the spring of 2000 to explore the viability of developing a research review committee (Institutional Review Board) here at VDH and a determination was made to proceed. Committee members were appointed and a policy document, The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Virginia Department of Health (VDH): Guidelines and Procedures for Obtaining Review, was developed and approved by the Commissioner in January 2001.

The following is a summary of the activities of the VDH IRB as per State regulations for the conduct of human research (12 VAC 5-20-10) during calendar year 2005. During calendar year 2005, the IRB reviewed 23 proposed human research projects.