Before human subjects research begins, and through periodic reviews while it is ongoing, the IRB oversees research at Brown that involves human participants.

Brown investigators can contact the IRB at 401-863-3050 or irb@brown.edu.

The meeting dates and deadlines below apply only to research that may be greater than minimal risk and requires review by the full, convened IRB, or other situations as guided by HRPP staff (for example, policy exception requests). Unless otherwise instructed by the HRPP team, these dates and deadlines do not apply to minimal risk research, which is reviewed by HRPP staff and the IRB on a rolling basis and does not have submission deadlines.

Meeting Dates and Deadlines (2024)

*Note change in December schedule to accommodate Winter Break

About IRB Deadlines

The submission deadline is the date by which research materials must be submitted (by 5 p.m.) in the Huron electronic platform to be considered for review during the corresponding IRB meeting date. There is no guarantee that a submission will be reviewed at an assigned meeting.

If the HRPP staff communicates with you regarding your submission, a complete response must be received by 5 p.m. on the pre-review response deadline for the submission to be considered for the next full board meeting.

The full IRB committee meeting date is the date the IRB meets to review submissions.

Why a Submission May Not Be Assigned for Review

There are several reasons a submission may not be assigned to the next full board meeting for IRB review, including the following:

• The submission was received after the submission deadline.
• The submission did not include a review by a special area expert (e.g., cultural consultant), so that the IRB would be unable to determine if risks to subjects are reasonable in relation to anticipated benefits.
• The submission was of poor quality and/or incomplete, so that it provided insufficient information for the IRB to meet its regulatory obligations.
• The HRPP team had a high number of requests and/or questions for the principal investigator (PI) and the PI did not respond by the pre-review response deadline.