Part of Research Integrity, the HRPP team promotes high-quality, ethical research by ensuring the protection of the rights and welfare of individuals who participate in research programs conducted by faculty, staff, students and researchers at Brown.
Inquiries for HRPP staff can be submitted to irb@brown.edu, or researchers can view individual staff information by visiting Research Integrity.
Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) staff support Brown’s Institutional Review Board (IRB), the committee that is required by federal regulations to protect human subjects participating in research at Brown. HRPP staff members pre-review all studies involving human subjects to determine whether they require full IRB review and work with the submitting researcher to help them navigate that review, and appropriately manage the research that follows.
The HRPP team reviews research projects under one of three categories based on the project’s potential risk to human subjects and the federal guidelines that define the categories of review:
HRPP staff members determine that review category in consultation with the IRB, as needed.
Visit the IRB page to learn more about the IRB board and view IRB meeting dates and deadlines.
Planning research involving human subjects requires substantial preparation before submitting your study protocol and other materials for HRPP/IRB review.
Once submitted, a study goes through stages of pre-review, review and post-review. Investigators then must continue to maintain compliance with all federal and University regulations and eventually close the study. Details about each of these stages of the process, including important forms and resources, can be found on the pages linked below, and on other pages throughout the Division of Research website.