sIRBs multi-site research
Historically, research organizations and sites have relied on the institutional review board (IRB) and its oversight. sIRBs multi-site research is an important characteristic today. These committees are usually locally managed by the research institutions themselves, but in some cases, the organization also chooses independently administered IRBs.
Recently, there has been a change in the federal requirements, and now all multi-site clinical trials need a single IRB (sIRB) to oversee all the sites. This means that researchers no longer need to employ multiple IRBs for every site, and an sIRB can ensure the participant protection of the entire study. But what exactly is the job of the sIRB, and why did this shift happen? Keep reading to find out.
Why are Clinical Trials Shifting to sIRBs?
Earlier, most of the clinical trials took place in academic institutions, so it was efficient to have a local IRB oversee the research and ensure that all human subject protection regulations are being followed. Clinical trials have now evolved, and there are more commercial research sites where they happen. These commercial sites don’t have a local IRB for oversight, and they have to choose independent IRBs.
In addition to this, research is becoming more streamlined as well, and all clinical trials aim to reduce cost, especially in the case of industry-sponsored studies. Due to this, research organizations can rely on any IRB that’s approved and designated by the sponsor or the contract research organization. These independent IRBs are called sIRBs, and they can oversee multiple sites simultaneously.
Benefits of Choosing an sIRB
The shift to sIRB is actually quite beneficial for the research sites. Here we have detailed some of the biggest advantages of getting an sIRB for your research:
- It streamlines the process as the sIRB handles all the research sites, and you don’t have to rely on different IRBs for oversight.
- It reduces the administrative workload of the researcher as they only have to follow the regulations of the sIRB.
- There’s a single oversight framework, so it’s easier to ensure complete compliance throughout the study.
- Amendments and ongoing reviews are sped up and processed quickly, so there’s less lag time in the research, and it can be conducted swiftly.
In addition to choosing an appropriate sIRB, you must also ensure that you work with state-of-the-art clinical trial and data management systems to have streamlined research. If you’re looking for a reliable vendor who can provide you with comprehensive clinical trial data management solutions, you can’t go wrong with ClinicalPURSUIT.
Our leading EDC clinical trial software helps CROs, sponsors, data managers, and others involved in medical research to conduct effective clinical trials. Our Missouri-based organization provides robust EDC software and systems, ePROs, IRT, intelligent data capture, and clinical trial supply management systems.
