Institutional Review Board

An institutional review board (IRB) is a group of people who review, approve, and monitor the rules, regulations, plans, and procedures of a clinical study. Their role is to protect the rights and welfare of people participating in a study. The group typically includes people with varying backgrounds (including a community member) to make sure that research activities conducted by an organization are completely, adequately, and fairly reviewed. All human research studies must be reviewed and approved by an IRB.