Composition of the Institutional Review Board

The IRB consists of at least five members appointed by the Dean of the College in accordance with the membership composition requirements established by the OHRP.  All are voting members of the IRB.  The membership requirements listed below are intended to ensure that the IRB membership possesses sufficient knowledge of the local research context, as well as breadth of background and experience.

• One member of the community unaffiliated with the College.
• One member from the Department of Psychology.
• One faculty or administrative staff member selected from a non-science discipline.

Additional members as appropriate to provide diversity (with consideration of race, gender, and cultural background), representation across academic divisions of the College, and sensitivity to community attitudes

Each IRB member will absent her/himself from deliberations on any protocol in which s/he has a conflicting interest (i.e., s/he is the Principal Investigator (PI), Co-PI, has some financial interest, etc.); this action will be noted in the minutes.   All Principal Investigators, however, may meet with the IRB in advance of its review to provide information or answer questions about the project. Such an advance meeting may occur either at the request of the IRB or the Principal Investigator. 

Each department that regularly conducts or anticipates human subjects research will appoint a departmental reviewer who will serve as a representative of the IRB with responsibility for the initial review of human subjects research proposals.  Each department will also designate an alternate reviewer who will serve (a) if the primary departmental reviewer has a human subjects research proposal that must be reviewed, or (b) if the departmental reviewer anticipates a significant period of absence or unavailability, and delegates responsibility to the alternate reviewer.  Departmental reviewers may occasionally be called upon to review research proposals originating outside the department.  Examples include:  (a) proposals from related departments that do not have a regular reviewer of their own; or (b) proposals from non-Wabash investigators seeking permission to do human subjects research at the College in the reviewer’s discipline.

In full reviews, decisions will be reached by a simple majority of the voting members.  The records of the IRB will include all votes pertaining to research protocols in the following format:  “Total Votes”; number of votes “For;” number of votes “Opposed;” number of votes “Abstained.”

IRB Board Members

Questions? Contact the Wabash IRB Chair:  John Lamborn, Director of Lilly Library Telephone: 765-361-608, Email: lambornj@wabash.edu