The Institutional Review Board (IRB),  the formally designated UMBC committee to approve, monitor, and review research involving humans is currently accepting applications from students to join for academic year 2013-2014.  Students are considered full members of the board. Student members review research protocols, attend meetings, and vote on issues with the aim to protect the rights and welfare of the research subjects. The board typically meets 5 times during the academic year: October, December, February, April and June. Meetings are on Mondays from 10 am-12 pm.

A reminder about the need to do entity background checks for anything being shipped overseas.  The Office for Research Protections and Compliance has access to a dynamic database to verify if entities who are to receive shipments are restricted.  Entities with “University” or “Institute” in their name may be restricted in terms of export control regulations.  The ORPC can often complete the check within a few minutes.  

Be safe. Contact Dean Drake or Tim Sparklin if you are participating in shipping anything overseas. 

For more information, go to our Export Control Management site.

The NIH Office for Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) is seeking input from the public regarding questions, issues and/or concerns they may have with the 2013 edition of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Guidelines for the Euthanasia of Animals. This is the first update to the guidelines since 2007. OLAW wants institutions to use the 2013 Guidelines when reviewing research projects as soon as possible and “expects full implementation” of these guidelines in new and continuing research projects after September 1, 2013. 

Public comments must be submitted electronically at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/2013avmaguidelines_comments/add.cfm?ID=32. 

Comments must be received on or before May 31, 2013. The NIH may make the comments available on the OLAW website.

Please use the most up to date forms and applications when submitting for IRB review and approval. Using older forms may delay the processing of your application (and causing minor headaches for the Office for Research Protections and Compliance staff!).

The direct link to these forms is: http://www.umbc.edu/research/ORPC/IRB_formsandtemplates.html

So, you've taken the CITI training - thank you! But, your mentor/supervisor has suggested that you take additional training to supplement the work you'll perform the lab or continue with, say, your dissertation research. To change the CITI course registration that will fit your training requirements, you will have to switch "learner groups". All it takes is going through a couple of steps.

1) Log back into CITI (using your username and password). The site that appears will be your "Learner's" page or Main Menu - the one that shows the courses you're enrolled in.

2) Look for the link that says "Add a course or update your learner groups for University of Maryland, Baltimore County".

3) You are now on the course enrollment page. Scroll down the page that lists the CITI Course Enrollment Questions. Move down page and select the radio button next to "Research with pre-existing data, records data or laboratory specimen" OR "Researchers conducting less than minimal risk research" OR "Social/Behavioral Research Course", then continue scrolling to the bottom of the page and click the Continue button.

4) You'll then be back at your "Learner's Menu" page. You’ll see a link that shows the selected module under My Courses that says "Passed" with a date or will show a link that says "Not Started - Enter". Click on that link and you'll see a list of additional training modules to take. Continue with reviewing the training materials and taking the quizzes. Once completed, you'll have a new certificate showing the completed modules.

A recent National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) YouTube Tuesday video, “10 Basic Best Practices for Beginners in the Field of International Research Collaboration”, provides some guidance and information. 

See http://www.youtube.com/user/ncura1959 for the video. 

Registration information and the conference program is now available online for the Society Of Research Administrators International Northeast/Midwest Section meeting at the  Historic Biltmore Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island on May 5-8, 2013. 

Program Highlights Include:

Here's how to affiliate:

1) Log back into CITI (using your username and password). The site that appears will be your "Learner's" page or Main Menu - the one that shows the courses you're enrolled in.

2) Look for the link at the top of the page that says "Affiliate with another institution".

3) Choose the drop down box next to “Participating Institutions” and select University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Click “Submit”

4) Complete the “Member Information” section (similar to what was completed during the initial CITI registration phase) and click “Submit”

5) Choose the training module that you plan to take (or have already taken) on the “Select Curriculum” page and click “Continue”

6) You'll then be back at your "Learner's Menu" page. Look for the heading “University of Maryland, Baltimore County “. If the modules completed at your current institution say “Passed (with a date)”, under University of Maryland, Baltimore County heading, then no further action is required. If not, you’ll see a link(s) for modules under My Courses with a link that says "Not Started - Enter". Click on that link and you'll see a list of additional training modules to take. Continue with reviewing the training materials and take the quizzes. Once completed, you'll have a new certificate showing the completed modules.

If you have taken any of the human subjects use or animal care on-line training modules from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) at least five (5) years ago, you may have received a message similar to the below (details changed slightly remove any identifiers):

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Your name,

This is an automatically generated email reminder from the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative website. (Please do not reply to this email.)

Your current CITI Program training will expire xx/xx/12. Now, your organization has additional course requirements for you to complete. To re-enter the website (www.citiprogram.org), you will need your username (your user name) and password (click here to receive your account password by email).

1. Name on Completion Report: Your Name

2. Affiliated Institution: University of Maryland, Baltimore County

3. Grade Book and Group Curriculum: Human Research - will expire

4. Expiration date: xx/xx/12

5. Completion Report Number: 1234567

For more information regarding this email reminder, click here to access our knowledge base site.

CITI Program

University of Miami – Miller School of Medicine

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If you have, and you are continuing to participate as a researcher in an approved IRB (human subjects) or IACUC (animal use) protocol, you are required by the to take a refresher module to renew your training certification. By taking the appropriate refresher training again, not only will you updating your knowledge base, you will also be maintaining compliance with federal and state regulations. It is important to remain abreast of the latest techniques and considerations that are involved in the conduct of ethical research.

So, please login into CITI at your next available opportunity using the information in that email.  Please feel free to contact the Office for Research Compliance and Protections at 5-2737 or compliance@umbc.edu  with any questions.