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Regulatory Foundations, Ethics, and Law Program

Supporting researchers to navigate clinical and translational regulatory processes

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Reliance Agreements

Institutional Animal Care and Use (IACUC)

IACUC Agreement
Institutions may choose to streamline IACUC review and oversight for collaborative, multisite research projects by establishing a formal written reliance agreement to address responsibilities for animal care, use, and ownership. An IACUC Agreement may be used for IACUC reliance on a protocol-by-protocol basis.

Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)

 IBC Agreement
Investigators conducting research at more than one site may submit a ceded IBC review application to request review by a single IBC for new protocols or when adding new site(s) to existing protocols. Each request will be considered by the relevant IBCs and a decision will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

SMART IRB
SMART IRB is a national platform designed to ease common challenges associated with initiating multisite research and to provide a roadmap for institutions to implement the NIH Single IRB Review policy. The SMART IRB Online Reliance System provides a central, web-based mechanism for participating institutions and their investigators to request, track, and document reliance arrangements under the SMART IRB Agreement.