Institutional Review Board

Institutional Review Board

Institutional Review Board

Welcome to Macomb Community College’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), responsible for protecting the rights and welfare of living human subjects used in research done through the college.

Please click here to go directly to the IRB application forms.

Macomb IRB Review Criteria

The IRB safeguards individuals involved in research by ensuring that:

  • Risks have been considered and minimized.
  • The potential for benefits has been identified and maximized.
  • Ethically sound methods are used to recruit subjects.
  • Research volunteers are provided with substantial information about the study and volunteer only after being provided with legally effective informed consent.
  • All private information about participants is handled with confidentiality, in a secure manner.
  • Due care is exercised in research involving vulnerable populations, such as children.
  • Research is conducted in an ethical manner and in compliance with established standards.

Scope and Authority of Macomb IRB

Macomb's IRB is governed by the IRB Charter and Standard Operating Procedures, which are based on the requirements of the Code of Federal Regulations, title 45, part 46.

The IRB has the authority to:

  • Review research involving living human subjects and approve, require modifications, or deny permission for those research activities.
  • Provide continuing advice and counsel to personnel engaged in activities involving living human subjects.
  • Require progress reports from the investigators and oversee the conduct of the study.
  • Suspend or terminate approval of a study, or to place restrictions on a study, when this is deemed to be in the best interests of the subjects in that study.
  • Observe the informed consent process in any approved project, especially in cases where the consentee is from a vulnerable population.
  • Access and make copies of records related to any research approved by the IRB for any reason, regardless of the location of those records.

Macomb Institutional Review Board Members

Louis Aquino, MA
Robert A. Martin, Ph.D.
Lee Meyrowitz, JD, Ph.D.
Marie Pritchett, Ph.D.
Deirdre Syms, MA

Reporting Problems and Violations

Any staff, student research investigator or research participant at Macomb Community College who is aware of any problems involving risks to subjects or others, or serious or continuing noncompliance with the federal regulations or the requirements or determinations of the IRB must report the information to the IRB chair. The report can be made by contacting the IRB chair directly at symsd@macomb.edu. The chair will alert the appropriate institutional officials, the head of any agency supporting the research, any applicable regulatory body, and the Office for Human Research Protections.