Contact Information

Organization

THE COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESEARCH

What is the CHR?

The Committee on Human Research (CHR) is UCSF's Institutional Review Board (IRB). An Institutional Review Board is a committee, operating under Federal regulations, State laws, and institutional policy, that reviews research involving human subjects to ensure the ethical and equitable treatment of those subjects. At present the CHR is comprised of four panels that share equal authority and responsibility.

The Committee on Human Research

	•	Reviews all human-subject research at UCSF, San Francisco General Hospital, the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, the Ernest Gallo Clinical and Research Center, the J. David Gladstone Foundation, and the Northern California Institute for Research and Education (NCIRE);
	•	Has the authority to approve, require changes in, or disapprove research involving human subjects;
	•	Includes representatives from the institutions whose research is reviewed, as well as at least one member who is not affiliated with any of the institutions;
	•	Includes members (such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, social scientists, and at least one non-scientist) qualified to review the range of research at the institutions;
	•	Has final authority to disapprove human-subject research at the institutions (No institutional official may overrule CHR disapproval, but institutions may choose not to support or permit research that the CHR has approved.);
	•	Operates in compliance with relevant State and Federal regulations (especially 45 CFR 46, 21 CFR 50 and 56, and 45 CFR 164) and with a signed agreement between the institutions and the Department of Health and Human Services, called a FederalWide Assurance (FWA); and
	•	May be audited by the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Health and Human Service's Office for Human Research Protections and Office of Civil RIghts, cooperative research groups, and UCSF Internal Audit, among others.
	•	Serves as the Privacy Board for research at UCSF