Kingsborough Community College
Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Kingsborough Community College’s Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects (IRB) is dedicated to fostering the ethical conduct of research at Kingsborough and ensuring compliance with federal, state and CUNY regulations pertaining to research. This page contains information to help faculty, students and staff learn about ethical principles of research with human participants and how to submit applications to the IRB
General questions or comments about the review process may be directed to:

The Institutional Review Board at Kingsborough
Any research that obtains data about human subjects, such as Kingsborough Community College (KCC) students, through intervention or interaction or that accesses identifiable private information through records or observation must comply with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) standard of ethics. In order to ensure compliance, research protocols must be reviewed and approved by the IRB before any research begins.

The IRB is composed of KCC faculty who are engaged in research using human subjects, faculty who study human behavior, a non-scientist, a community member who is not affiliated with CUNY or KCC, and a KCC student representative. This composition is mandated by DHHS.

The IRB's only interest is in protecting the safety, welfare, privacy and rights of human research subjects. It is not the IRB's objective to pass judgment on other aspects of the research except as it relates to this ratio. To this end, Principal Investigators (PIs) must prepare protocols giving complete descriptions of the proposed research.
 
On July 1, 2005, CUNY implemented a new computer-based training program, CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative), that all CUNY researchers and key personnel involved in human subjects research must complete, regardless of whether the research is funded or non-funded. Certification of completion must be submitted with the research protocol.  Certification is valid for three years before a refresher course is required. 

The following links provide information, instructions, and forms to assist investigators prepare their protocols for IRB review.    

• Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI)
     
• Guidelines for Submitting IRB Proposals
  
  
• CUNY Office of Research Conduct Forms and Application
  
  
• Instructions for Completing IRB Consent Forms and Sample Consent Forms
  
  
• CUNY Principal Investigator's Manual