Content: Announcement List

PHIL 337 is intended for students across disciplines but will particularly appeal to those in the social and natural sciences. 

Instructor: Dr. Alison Wylie | alison.wylie@ubc.ca | Syllabus

The course will provide a general introduction to ethics issues that are raised by the (non-medical) social and natural sciences. It is organized around three central questions:

• what counts as “responsible conduct of research” (RCR)?
• who is accountable for the social and environmental impacts of research?
• what role do social values play in scientific practice?

Please note that RISE (UBC's platform for accessing, modifying and reviewing research ethics applications) will be out of service from Wednesday, October 28 – Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The outage is planned to allow UBC's transition from PeopleSoft to Workday for Finance and HR functions.

During this period, researchers will be unable to view, modify or submit ethics applications and REB staff will also be unable to view or process applications. 

For details of the planned outage, please see the RISe announcement. If you have questions or concerns about your Ethics Application, please feel free to contact REB staff. 

Based on the findings of a specially convened task force,  UBC Vancouver and Okanagan Behavioural Research Ethics Boards have updated their review processes to allow for the limited resumption of on- and off-campus in-person behavioural research. The health and safety of the UBC and broader community continues to be our first priority.

Please note that the following guidance does not apply when health authority sites are being used for research or when researchers are accessing health authority patients or records. Please contact your Health Authority or Health Institution for guidance in these instances.

The intention of the new process is to permit studies at this time that are beneficial to the participants and/or are urgent due to circumstances related to the research outcomes or researcher constraints.  To assist in this, departments will determine which studies meet these criteria prior to submission to BREB.

BREB has created a Guide for Assessing Benefit and Urgency to assist departments in deciding which projects should move forward at this time.

Researchers will also be required to complete new BREB forms for all face-to-face/in-person research:

• COVID-19 Form OR Supplementary Research Form (both require departmental signature)
• A Research Safety Plan is required for all in-person research (see Guidelines)

For further details, see UBC Behavioural Guidance during the COVID-19 research restrictions: https://ethics.research.ubc.ca/behavioural-research-ethics/ubc-behaviou….

Are you conducting health-related research and want to recruit BC residents?

REACH BC is an online provincial platform that connects British Columbians with health research opportunities.

How does it work? Researchers submit their project details for review by REACH BC. REACH BC will provide the research team with the related documents required for the initial ethics application or amendment. Once ethics approval is confirmed, the project will be posted on the REACH BC platform. Volunteers (participants) who match the research criteria will be notified of the research opportunity. When they have expressed interest in a specific research opportunity, the researcher will be able to contact them.

Who can use REACH BC? Researchers must be appointed or employed by a health authority or public post-secondary institution in BC. Graduate students with a principal investigator who meets the researcher criteria may also qualify.

What kind of Research is eligible? Research that involves a health or wellness focus, including both clinical and behavioural research.*

To learn more and to register as a researcher, go to: https://www.reachbc.ca/researchers.

The REACH BC platform completed a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA #2019-121) with Vancouver Coastal Health and the Health Information Privacy Security Operation Committee (HIPSOC). The Security Risk Threat Assessment (SA 20190918-1) was conducted by University of British Columbia – Advanced Research Computing and IMITS. For more information, email info@reachbc.ca.

REACH BC is funded by the BC SUPPORT Unit (through CIHR and Michael Smith Foundation of Health Research).

* Behavioural research topics that would qualify include psychological or life impacts of diagnosis and therapy; diet and nutrition; general health and wellness, mental health and behaviour (e.g. anxiety, depression, mood disorders), substance use, elder health care.

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The Office of Research Ethics invites graduate students & faculty to DROP-IN to the Research Commons

Bring your questions to Room 495 | Koerner Library

Every Wednesday from 8:30 am – 4 pm

**PLEASE NOTE THAT DROP-IN SESSIONS ARE CURRENTLY POSTPONED. WE WILL POST ON THIS PAGE WHEN THEY RESUME**

The Research Commons in the Koerner Library provides a welcoming space for projects and presentations, a Digital Scholarship Lab, plus consultations and workshops for UBC researchers.

The 2020 edition of the International Compilation of Human Research Standards has been released. The Compilation is a listing of over 1,000 laws, regulations, and guidelines on human subjects protections in 133 countries and from many international organizations.

Most of the listings provide hyperlinks to the source document. These laws, regulations, and guidelines are classified into nine categories:

1. General, i.e., applicable to most or all types of human subjects research
2. Drugs and Devices
3. Clinical Trial Registries
4. Research Injury
5. Social-Behavioral Research
6. Privacy/Data Protection
7. Human Biological Materials
8. Genetic
9. Embryos, Stem Cells, and Cloning

Prepared by the Office for Human Research Protections of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Compilation is designed for use by IRBs, researchers, sponsors, and others involved in human subjects research around the world.

The Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences has published a guide to help researchers determine whether their Pharmacy education research projects require a formal behavioural ethics application. Others in educational reseach may find it a valuable resource. Please feel free to contact Dr. Simon P. Albon (Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences) if you would like more information about the processes described. PERL Ethics Review Vetting Guide

Beginning 2020, the CREB will focus on re-review of applications that were approved prior to 2005.  An ethics re-review to ensure the study meets current ethical requirements, will be undertaken and communicated individually with each PI and primary contact on the study. 

As per TCPS 2 (2018) Article 6.14 “The REB shall make the final determination as to the nature and frequency of continuing research ethics review in accordance with a proportionate approach to research ethics review.”  “Continuing research ethics review should be understood as a collective responsibility to be carried out with a common interest in maintaining the highest ethical standards: REBs make the final decision about the nature and frequency of continuing ethics review.” 

Researchers will be requested to submit a new application making reference to the originally submitted study. 

Please note UBC CREB may also request re-review of any study if deemed necessary.

 UBC CREB is also requiring the re-review of registries (data bank) or biobanks 5 years and older in order to align with our new Protocol and consent form requirements as per here

The Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research has launched the third revision of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2).

The TCPS 2 is a joint policy of Canada’s three federal research agencies – the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), or "the Agencies."

TCPS 2 (2018) replaces TCPS 2 (2014) as the official human research ethics policy of the Agencies.

To download TCPS 2 (2018): http://pre.ethics.gc.ca/eng/policy-politique_tcps2-eptc2_2018.html.

For the summary of changes: http://pre.ethics.gc.ca/eng/policy-politique_tcps2-eptc2_changes.html.

For guidance on how to address Material Incidental Findings: http://www.ger.ethique.gc.ca/eng/incidental_findings.html.