Dear MSU Human Subjects Researchers,

 

We are pleased to share several fall program updates.

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New Guidance for Research with Children

The IRB, the Office of Research Compliance, Human Resources, and researchers came together over the past year to devise the comprehensive IRB Guidelines for Working with Children in Research, which received final approval in September.

We paid special attention to background check concerns and aimed to reach a happy medium that provides both a responsible approach for the safety of minors and a reasonable timeline for screenings for research lab personnel.

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More Resources on Demand

We have enhanced resources online in response to frequently asked questions:

Stay tuned for more website updates as we refresh our IRB homepage in the coming weeks.

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TOPAZ – All systems are go.

We have now moved fully online into TOPAZ for all protocol review types and all actions (new applications, amendments, annual reviews).

Amendments to older (Word Document) protocols will also take place in TOPAZ and are handled as follows:

  • Exempt Level Protocols
    • Issued within the last 2 years: Contact us to request migration.
    • Issued over 2 years ago: Submit a fresh application in TOPAZ as the form has evolved.
  • Expedited Level Protocols
    • Many previous Expedited protocols are still in our migration queue. Reach out if you don’t see your protocol and are ready to submit an Amendment.
    • Expedited protocols no longer require annual review per the Common Rule. However, it is up to the PI to ensure that the protocol remains up to date.
  • Full Committee Review (“FCR”) Protocols
    • All FCR protocols (unless special circumstances prevail) issued within the last 5 years should be present in TOPAZ and require annual review by the IRB.

If you have not yet accessed TOPAZ or need additional privileges, sign up via our Request to be Added to Topaz Form. Be sure to check out our TOPAZ User Guide for screenshots and step-by-step navigation assistance.

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Thank you for your continued commitment to the care of human participants at Montana State University.

 

Kelly Beiswanger

IRB Administrator & Program Manager

Office of Research Compliance

Hamilton Hall 123

Montana State University

kelly.beiswanger@montana.edu 

406-994-4706

https://www.montana.edu/orc/irb

 

 

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