VA Facilities

Previously, VA facilities that wished to utilize the VA Central IRB would sign a Memorandum of Understanding, however now, to utilize the VA Central IRB, each VA facility must add the VA Central IRB to its Federal wide Assurance (FWA) and sign an Institutional Authorization Agreement (IAA) with the VHA Central Office (VHACO) Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) and rewrite its SOPs to incorporate the processes for using the VA CIRB. The local VA has ultimate and immediate responsibility for its HRPP.

The same is true for a local VA facility's Non-Profit Corporation (NPC), if one is associated with the facility. Since NPCs often hire personnel to work on projects overseen by the VA Central IRB and often manage research funds for the study team when outside funding is received, the NPC will also need to execute an IAA.

Any question regarding please contact the VA IRB Network Director @ vacentralirb@va.gov.

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