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The UIS Institutional Review Board (IRB) invites UIS faculty, students, and staff interested in conducting research involving humans or using their data or biospecimens to review this site. The UIS IRB strives to help you make sure your research complies with applicable regulations, relevant ethical standards, and any legal and institutional requirements. Review the UIS Institutional Review Board Policies for answers to additional questions.

The use of human subjects in research is extremely important to the development of new knowledge in many areas. However, careful attention must be given to questions of ethics and human dignity whenever human subjects participate in research. All research involving human subjects must be formally reviewed and approved before any data are collected or human subjects are contacted.

UIS participates in the SMART IRB to facilitate the use of one institutional review board for inter-institutional human subjects research.

Federal Wide Assurance and IRB Registration

The UIS IRB maintains federal assurances through US DHHS OHRP:

  • Institutional Review Board Parent Institution/Organization: IORG0000852 (“University of Illinois at Springfield”), expires 09/07/2026
  • IRB00001213 (“U of Illinois at Springfield”), expires 09/07/2026
  • FWA00013968 (“U of Illinois at Springfield”), expires 11/01/2026

Is your project ‘Human Subjects Research’?

The Human Subjects Review Officer (HSRO) or designee will make the determination of whether or not your project meets the federal definition of ‘human subjects research’. Please check out the UIS Non-Research Determination infographic to determine if your study qualifies as human subjects research.  You may also review the About Research and Human Subjects webpage for further clarification on the definition of human subjects research.

If your research qualifies as both "human subjects" and "research," an application must be submitted for IRB review.

IRB Application and Other Forms

**Note: Applications must use current IRB forms & resources.

Research involves a ‘systematic investigation’ which generally refers to a methodical approach designed to answer a hypothesis and/or research question with a plan to systematically collect and analyze data. Formal IRB review requires the PI to include a Protocol describing the research design and methodological approach to the proposed activity. The current IRB Human Subjects Study Application includes a Protocol section. Please submit all IRB applications to ora@uis.edu. Upon IRB receipt of your application, you should receive a submission confirmation and an MS LIST URL to track your application’s status.

The following e-presentation provides the basics for preparing a successful human subjects research application for UIS IRB review: IRB Application Video.

Collaborative research, international research, and research involving vulnerable populations require additional information.

IRB Package Checklist

Levels of IRB Review

Once you have submitted a Human Subjects Research Application, the UIS Human Subjects Review Officer will determine what level of IRB review is required for your application: exempt, expedited or full board review.

Exempt

An ‘Exempt’ determination is made after review of your UIS IRB Application.  ‘Exempt’ is defined as being exempt from further review and approval beyond the Human Subjects Review Officer or his/her designee. It does not mean that your proposed research project is exempt from being reviewed.

  1. Eight specific categories of research that meet exempt status IRB Exempt Categories and IRB Exempt Category Details
  2. The Human Subjects Review Officer reviews and applies exemption status
  3. Status does not remove requirement for informed consent

Expedited

An ‘Expedited’ determination is made after review of your UIS IRB Application.  ‘Expedited’ is defined as being exempt from further review and approval beyond the IRB Manager, or the Human Subjects Review Officer. It does not mean that your proposed research project is exempt from being reviewed and it does not define the length of time required for application review.

  1. Can be carried out by the IRB chairperson or experienced reviewers
  2. Human Subjects Review Office approves the review
  3. Expedited reviews are minimal risk to the subject and includes the same criteria as full committee reviews and continuing review is required at least annually
  4. Nine specific categories in the regulations: IRB Expedited Categories

Full-Board IRB Review

An IRB Application with the following characteristics will require review and consideration by the full IRB Committee at a regularly scheduled meeting.

  1. More than minimal risk
  2. Concerns with confidentiality
  3. Potential conflicts of interest
  4. Complex and controversial issues or topics
  5. Protected subjects and/or vulnerable population

Deadlines

Please plan for 2-4 weeks for HSRO review, and 4-6 weeks for full board review.

IRB applications are accepted on a rolling basis, but the deadline date for application submissions that may require full Board approval is two weeks prior to the scheduled IRB monthly meeting.

The Spring 2024 meeting schedule and application submission deadlines are below. All meetings will be held on Zoom.

Spring 2024 Meeting DatesTimeApplication Deadline for Full Board Review 
Tuesday, January 23rd3:00 – 4:00 PMTuesday, January 9th
Wednesday, February 14th 10:00 - 11:00 AMWednesday, January 31st
Wednesday, March 6th10:00 - 11:00 AM Wednesday, February 21st
Wednesday, April 10th10:00 - 11:00 AM Wednesday, March 27th
Wednesday, May 1st10:00 - 11:00 AM Wednesday, April 17th
Spring 2024 IRB Meeting Schedule

Required CORE IRB Training

All investigators involved with the collection and/or analysis of human subjects research must complete training before the project can begin.  The training is free for members of the UIS community and can be completed online, following the instructions on our Required Training page. When submitting an application, please submit the report. Each course must be passed with a score of 80% or higher.

Students and Research

Go to UIS Classroom Projects and IRB Review for additional information on IRB review for student research including course projects, capstone projects, master’s theses, and independent student research. Contact the HSRO for official IRB determination.

Changes to OHRP Common Rule 2018

In response to the 2018 federal Common Rule revisions, there were changes to UIS policies and procedures on Human Subject Research Protection.  These PowerPoint slides provide an overview of those changes.

New EU General Data Protection Regulations may apply to your research. Please consult the University of Illinois system supplemental privacy notice for more information.

IRB Members

Chair, Human Subjects Review Officer

Lucía Vazquez, PhD
Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation
MS PAC 525
University of Illinois at Springfield
217-206-8112
lvazq1@uis.edu

Staff to the Board

Carissa Craven, Program Coordinator
MS PAC 525
University of Illinois at Springfield
217-206-8578
ora@uis.edu

UIS IRB Members

John Barker (expires 12/31/2024)
Associate Professor, Philosophy, UHB 3025, Mail Stop UHB 3010
University of Illinois at Springfield
217-206-8244

John Transue (expires 12/31/2024)
Associate Professor, Political Science
PAC 482, Mail Stop PAC 350
University of Illinois at Springfield
217-206-8383

Zihan Liu (expires 12/31/2026)
Assistant Professor, Organizational Behavior
MS UHB 4060
University of Illinois at Springfield
217-206-8725

Brandon Derman (expires 12/31/2024)
Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies
MS PAC 309
University of Illinois at Springfield
217-206-6720

Alan Freedman (expires 12/31/2025)
Assistant Professor, Exercise Science
SLB 109
University of Illinois at Springfield
217-206-8617

Neeraj Rajasekar (expires 12/31/2026)
Assistant Professor, Sociology/Anthropology
MS UHB 3010
University of Illinois at Springfield
217-206-6962

Tih-Fen Ting (expires 12/31/2024)
Associate Professor, Environmental Studies
MS PAC 308
University of Illinois at Springfield
217-206-7876

Gary Reinbold (expires 12/31/2026)
Associate Professor, Public Policy
MS PAC 418
University of Illinois at Springfield
217-206-8568

Resources

IRB Did You Know…?

  • how to conduct remote human subjects research – Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers need to limit their face-to-face interactions. The UIS IRB has developed guidelines for using technology for human subjects research. Online Surveys UIS subscribes to Qualtrics, a powerful tool for conducting online surveys. ITS has instructions for how to use Qualtrics. Read our blog for how to conduct an online […]
  • how the UIS IRB reviews protocols – The UIS IRB has developed procedures and handouts to assist faculty in incorporating human subjects research into their class assignments. Part of the training materials for students includes a new video, “Introduction to the UIS IRB,” which gives an overview of how the UIS IRB reviews protocols. The video is also appropriate for any investigator […]

For additional explanation and instructions please view the Introduction to the IRB Presentation (PDF).  Further training materials are available in the IRB section of the Resources page.

Please contact us with your questions about the application process or the definitions of human subjects research: ora@uis.edu 217-206-8578.