Through an agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the University of Chicago assures that all research involving human subjects conducted at the University of Chicago or by University faculty, students, or staff will be conducted in accordance with the ethical principles spelled out in the Belmont Report. Our agreement assures that the University complies with all federal regulations and policies for prior review and continuing approval by an Insritutional Review Board (IRB) of federally funded research. The agreement is called a Federalwide Assurance.
Day-to-day responsibility for the use of human subjects in research is handled by three administrative units. The Biological Sciences Division/University of Chicago Medical Center IRB handles all biomedical and behavioral research within the Biological Sciences Division, the University of Chicago Medical Center, and Argonne National Laboratory. The Social Service Administration Institutional Review Board (SSA IRB) serves the School Social Services Administration and Chapin Hall. The Social and Behavioral Sciences IRB handles all other social and behavioral sciences research and any human subjects research in other academic areas (e.g., Graduate School of Business, Humanities, Law School), for all units at the University other than the Biological Sciences, SSA and Chapin Hall.
The Office of Research Safety and the Institutional Biosafety Committee collaborate with the Biological Sciences Division/University of Chicago Medical Center IRB, the UChicago Medicine Infection Control Committee and the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee in the review, approval and management of protocols involving the introduction of recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid into human research participants.