News Articles
USC Gets Human Research Accreditation USC News (June 26, 2007)
USC nearing human-test accreditation Daily Trojan (February 9, 2006)
USC Seeks Gold Standard of Approval USC Chronicle (January 30, 2006)
Playing It Safe With Research Risks Chronicle of Higher Education (August 12, 2005)

CITI (human subjects education program) Required July 1, 2006
CITI is now MANDATORY as of July 1, 2006. This means that all “key personnel” listed on an iStar IRB application must complete CITI, or similar program, for the application to be approved. This applies to all “key personnel”, including students regardless of the funding source. To find out more about CITI, how to access the program, and see the CITI updated FAQ sheet click here.

New Brochure Created
A new brochure titled, Is Your Project Human Subjects Research? A Guide for Investigators, (Word) (PDF) has been created. The intent of the brohcure is to help investigators decide whether or not their project is human subjects research and needs IRB Review. There are still grey areas in making this decision, so when in doubt please contact the IRB

Provost Nikias Memo
Provost Max Nikias issued a memorandum (November 9th, 2005) requesting school and department cooperation with OPRS and IRB efforts to prepare USC for AAHRPP accreditation. These efforts will include education on human subjects principles, ethics and regulations, and in addition specific preparations for the site visit. To view the memo, click here

iStar Announcement
Effective July 1, 2005 all new study proposals are required to be submitted in iStar. To read more about this announcment click here

USC IRB Survey Responses
Below are links to responses from the First Annual USC IRB Survey conducted by the Office for the Protection of Research Subjects (OPRS). Of the nearly 900 faculty, staff, and students who received the survey, over 200 responded for a 22% return rate over a 2 ½ week period.

The OPRS is aware that the survey is not flawless and has room for improvements. For the next annual survey, the OPRS plans to solicit suggestions/questions to be added to the survey.

The open-ended response portion of the survey was intended to elicit feedback that the HSIRB, UPIRB, and OPRS can make changes based on, even the negative comments are useful.

The data collected in the USC IRB Survey will be provided to Gerald P. Koocher, Ph.D. who is the author of the original survey [Institutional Review Board Assessment Tool (IRB-RAT)].

Health Sciences Survey Responses
Health Sciences Open-ended Responses
University Park Survey Responses
University Park Open-ended Responses

Survey Scale:
Please rate the IRB that you submit to on each item by choosing the number corresponding to the following scale:
7= Describes the IRB exceptionally well
6= Describes the IRB very well
5= Describes the IRB well
4= Describes the IRB somewhat
3= Only slightly describes the IRB
2= Does not describe the IRB
1= Don't know or not applicable