Home > About Us

  About...

NUS INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD

The terms of reference of the NUS-IRB are:

1.     To conduct independent reviews of the ethical merits of research[1] projects that involve human subjects[2] or human tissues, proposed by academic NUS staff.

2.     To approve all relevant projects, in accordance with the Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC) guidelines and the applicable laws and regulations in Singapore that govern or regulate research involving human subjects.

3.     To monitor research projects, by way of regular reports, as determined by the NUS-IRB.

4.     To submit an annual report, and such other reports, as may be called for by the President of NUS, or any other relevant authority.

The NUS-IRB is guided by the following principles when we consider and approve all research projects submitted by faculty members.

1.    All NUS activities related to human subject research, regardless of funding sources, will be guided by the Declaration of Helsinki, The Belmont Report, and all relevant laws and regulations in Singapore.

2.     All NUS activities related to US federally conducted or supported human subject research will comply with both:

(a)    The Terms of the Federalwide Assurance (FWA) for International (Non-U.S.) Institutions as stated in the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) website; and

(b)     ICH E6 Good Clinical Practice.

Composition of members of NUS-IRB

NUS-IRB has a total of 12 staff members from Faculty of Medicine, Arts and Social Sciences, Dentistry, Law, and 2 non-NUS affiliated members (lay-persons) and a biomedical scientist who is not affiliated with the institution.

Every NUS-IRB review meeting shall have a quorum of 5 members, with varying backgrounds to promote complete and adequate review of the research.

Disciplines represented in the NUS-IRB are as follows:

• Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health

• Faculty of Law

• Department of Malay Studies

• Department of Medicine

• Department of Pharmacology

• Department of Philosophy

• Department of Psychology

• Department of Restorative Dentistry

• Department of Sociology

• Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

• Department of Microbiolgy

• Department of Management & Organization

• Genome Institute of Singapore, A*STAR

• 2 non-NUS affiliated members (lay-persons)

NUS-IRB has been registered by Office of Human Research Protections (OHRP), (U.S.) with effect from 3rd November 2003.

The DHHS IRB registration number is IRB00003876 - Natl U Singapore IRB #1.

The International IRB Organisation registration number is IORG0003245 - Natl U Singapore.

NUS has been granted Federalwide Assurance (FWA) approval by OHRP on 6th February 2004.

The Federalwide Assurance registration number is FWA00006418.

[1]  Research – Systematic investigation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge.

[2]  Human Subject - A living individual about whom an investigator obtains identifiable private information or data through intervention or interaction with the individual.

back to the top

NUS-IRB: Home | Search | Contact Us