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 college regulations pertaining to research. This webpage 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.

The IRB at Kingsborough is under the supervision of the Office of the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, M386, ext. 5029.  Questions or comments about the review process may be directed to:

Prof. Loretta Brancaccio-Taras, KCC IRB Committee Chair, Department of Biological Sciences
ltaras@kingsborough.edu
(718) 368-4796

Dr. Carmen D. Rodríguez, KCC IRB Administrator, Office of the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
crodriguez@kingsborough.edu
(718) 368-5029

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, your 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 and a community member who is not affiliated with CUNY or KCC. 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 interest. To this end, Principal Investigators (PIs) must prepare protocols giving complete descriptions of the proposed research.

The CUNY Office of Research Conduct (ORC) determines the content of the Research Foundation (RF) website.  The Principle Investigator (PI) Manual, posted on the website, is undergoing modification and is currently unavailable.  You may go to the RF site to obtain information by clicking on http://www1.cuny.edu/academics/research-scholarship/human-subjects-research.html

CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative) Training Certification, required as part of the submission process, can be accessed at:
http://www1.cuny.edu/academics/research-scholarship/human-subjects-research/citi-training.html 
  
The relevant IRB forms can be accessed directly by clicking on the following links:

• IRB Application: application for approval human subjects research.doc
  
  
• Instructions for Developing and Using a Consent Form: 
  http://www.kbcc.cuny.edu/sub-other/sub-news/news_items/irb-form_completion_instructions.htm
  
  
• IRB Disposition Form:
  http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/content/research/2005/letters/disposition.pdf