Office for Research Announces Launch of eIRB+
As part of its commitment to enhancing and simplifying research processes and policies for faculty and staff, the Office for Research (OfR) announced a major update to its Institutional Review Board (IRB) submission process with the launch of eIRB+. The OfR’s eIRB+ implementation team developed the new system in collaboration with over 500 Rutgers faculty and staff.
“The upgrade to the Office for Research’s IRB process represents a commitment to one of our departmental values: simplification,” said Michael E. Zwick, senior vice president for research. “As an office, we strive to make all of our policies and procedures as easy as possible for our faculty, allowing them to focus on what’s most important: their research.”
The eIRB+ system will be used by Rutgers principal investigators for the routing and tracking of their IRB submissions, and currently features 10,000 users. Whereas the previous IRB process featured a combination of hard copy paper and online forms, eIRB+ moves the entire system online, thus providing researchers with streamlined workflows and improved interfaces. The key improvements include:
- Simplicity and Ease: The eIRB+ system is entirely online, and users will experience streamlined workflows, intuitive interfaces, and improved efficiency.
- Collaboration and Transparency: The eIRB+ implementation team actively collaborated with a Steering committee, faculty members, IRB committee members, and colleagues to incorporate users’ suggestions and enhance the IRB process.
- Automated Monitoring: CITI and COI requirements are now automatically monitored, enabling a quicker IRB review process and release of Notices of Approval (NOAs).
“The launch of eIRB+ is yet another phase of a multi-stage approach to the Office for Research’s ongoing commitment to business improvement, to go along with other significant achievements such as prestigious AAHRPP accreditation, cutting-edge services like Virtual Open Hours, streamlining CITI training refreshers, and DRAFT review,” said José M. Román, JD, DMin, vice president of research administration. “I am incredibly proud of Hila, (director of IRB and Human Research Protection Program) Swapnali Chaudhari, MBBS, MS, CIP, and the entire eIRB+ implementation team.”
“Our team is always looking to improve and simplify our processes to serve the Rutgers faculty better,” said Hila Feldman Berger, MPH, CHC, CIP, assistant vice president for research regulatory affairs. “We are incredibly grateful for the time and feedback the 500 faculty and staff members gave us; it was invaluable in shaping eIRB+.”
