The Status Summary Tab Export now includes the most recent PI Survey attestation date. All PI Surveys that were completed before Investigator Attestation was required will show the PI Survey completed date as the Investigator Attestation date.
Category Archives: Local Considerations
Updated Feature: More Flexible Combo Site Documentation
A Combo Site occurs when one study team engages multiple Federalwide Assurances (FWAs) for a given study. Because sIRBs often review and approve Combo Sites separately – so as not to delay study activation at one site – IREx has added new flexibility for Combo Sites.
Most importantly, sites in a Combo can now be reviewed and approved by the sIRB separately. To facilitate sites being reviewed by the sIRB as quickly as possible, the notification that local considerations have been completed for a site in a Combo is now sent to Study Managers and sIRBs instantly, rather than requiring all sites be complete. Additionally, after a site is reviewed and approved by the sIRB, the site’s approval can be posted to IREx instantly, rather than requiring all sites in the Combo to have approval before the documents can be posted. Given that combo sites may have separate consent forms or receive approval at separate times, combo site approvals are posted for each FWA/site, like the other sites on the study.
Updated Feature: One PI Survey per FWA engaged in a Combo Site
PIs will now complete a separate PI survey for each FWA in a Combo Site, with the option to copy their PI survey responses from the other site in the study. A separate PI survey allows for more accurate capture of the conduct of the study for each site in a combo. As with all sites on a study, the HRPP of a site in a Combo validates the PI survey responses
Updated Feature: Capture additional timepoints during Lead & Relying Site Approvals
When capturing Lead and Relying Site Approvals, the sIRB and SM can now capture additional timepoints in the review process, such as the date the sIRB requested changes from PI and when those changes were received. Additional IRB review dates can also be captured if a study required multiple reviews. Local Review dates have been moved to the HRP survey for studies capturing Local Considerations to streamline the date capture. Local review dates have been removed for studies not capturing Local Considerations, since those sIRBs have chosen to track local considerations outside of IREx. The Status Summary Tab export, Reviewing Site Dashboard export, and Participating Site dashboard include these additional fields. These additional dates are optional but may help in achieving a more granular timeline of the sIRB review process.
New Feature: Tracking Combo Sites Now Supported in IREx
Combo Sites, defined as one study team engaging multiple FWAs for the same study, are now supported on IREx. In the past, SIRBs and Study Managers had no way to group sites together to ensure all documentation was in place before review. Moreover, relying sites had to duplicate information (e.g., PI Survey). Now, Combo Sites are marked with a blue link icon throughout IREx and have several features to ensure reliance documentation is completed by each FWA in the most streamlined way possible. For more information, please visit our resources page, organized by role on our menu toolbar and watch our Combo Site trailer on YouTube.
Updated Feature: Notifications when Local Considerations are Edited
After local considerations are completed, additional information or clarifications may be necessary from relying sites. IREx has always notified the sIRB and Study Manager when Local Considerations are updated. Now, this notification will include a detailed table outlining the changes that were made to each survey.
Updated Feature: Tracking Changes to the Local Considerations HRP Survey
The Human Research Protections (HRP) Survey and PI Survey are key parts of capturing local considerations. When Participating Site HRPPs edit the PI or HRP Survey, an email notification is now sent to the Study Manager indicating what was changed on the survey. This feature is expected to help ensure Study Managers distinguish what was changed and ensure their requested changes were made appropriately.
Updated Feature: Enhanced PDF Export of Local Considerations Surveys
Local considerations received another enhancement this month: PDF Exports of the surveys now include embedded HRPP Liaison and PI signatures, respectively, rather than including the signatures as separate files. These surveys record important study-specific information and support national sIRB initiatives.
Updated Feature: Local Considerations Complete Notification Now Includes Outstanding Steps
In May we added “Complete Agreements” to the Relying HRPP Getting Started checklist. This feature allows sites to document and complete local considerations while their legal counsel is reviewing and executing any outstanding agreements, if needed. Sites are not allowed to document reliance or cede review until the agreements are complete, but, if a site completes local considerations before their agreements are complete, we now include in the email any outstanding steps that should be completed before the site is submitted to the sIRB for review, such as “Complete Agreements” or “Cede Review”.
New Feature: Include date local considerations surveys were “Updated”
Sometimes Study Managers (SMs) or sIRBs need PSites to make changes to the local considerations they provided in IREx. Before receiving sIRB approval for a study, PSite HRPPs and PIs can make these edits to the Human Research Protection (HRP) and PI surveys (Note: PIs can only make edits before their HRPP validates their answers). IREx will now track when updates were made by the PI or HRPP and include this date on the Status Summary tab so Study Managers can see when the information was last updated.