Invited Speaker

Institutional Regulations for Biomedical Research: The Role of "Institutional Review Board" (IRB)
Maqbool Ahmad Sharifi
Kuwait

The advancement and progress of medical sciences depend on Research, which is defined as a systematic investigation designed to contribute to generalizable knowledge. Medical research involving Human Subjects must conform to generally accepted scientific principles, be based on a thorough knowledge of the scientific literature, other relevant sources of information, and adequate laboratory and, as appropriate, animal experimentation. The Codes of Biomedical Research Ethics are the guiding principles for conducting research involving Human subjects. The welfare of animals used for research must be respected. The design and performance of each research study involving human subjects must be clearly described in a Research Protocol, which should contain a statement of the ethical considerations and should include information regarding funding, sponsors, institutional affiliations, other potential conflicts of interest, incentives for subjects and provisions for treating and/or compensating subjects who are harmed as a consequence of participation in the research study. All proposals to conduct research involving human subjects must be submitted for review of their scientific merit and ethical acceptability to one or more scientific review and ethical review committees. The review committees must be independent of the research team, and any direct financial or other material benefit they may derive from the research should not be contingent on the outcome of their review. The investigators must obtain their approval or clearance before undertaking the research. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is a specifically constituted review body established or designated by an institution to protect the welfare of HUMAN SUBJECTS recruited for participation in Biomedical Research. Ideally, every institution that conducts biomedical research should have some kind of mechanism for the review, approval, monitoring, and promotion of the research programs. In order to ensure compliance with international standards, the Dasman Institute establishes peer review mechanism.