Institutional Review Board (IRB) Office

The IRB Office is the administrative support office for the UT Health San Antonio Institutional Review Board (IRB). An IRB is a federally mandated ethics committee that serves to protect the rights and welfare of human research participants. The IRB reviews all research projects that involve humans – including identifiable data or biospecimens from living humans – prior to the start of the project at UT Health San Antonio or its affiliate institutions. The IRB Reliance Team within the IRB Office reviews research projects using a single Institutional Review Board (IRB) for multiple sites or investigators. The UT Health San Antonio IRB is accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP), and serves as the IRB of record for University Health and the South Texas Veterans Health Care System.

Services the IRB provides to researchers 

  • Assistance with IRB application submissions (including new studies, amendments, and annual continuing review reports)  

  • Guidance on reporting unexpected issues that arise during the conduct of human research studies  

  • Coordination with external institutions for collaborative and multi-site studies 

  • Training of research personnel conducting human research 

  • Verification of training, credentialing, and/or scope of practice for conducting human research  

  • Assistance with VA Human Research studies 

IRB

IRB Reliance Team