Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Patient and Doctor discussing scan results.

The OHSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews research that involves human subjects. In general, a human subject is a living individual about whom an investigator conducting research obtains (1) data through intervention or interaction with the individual or (2) identifiable private information.

See About the IRB for more information on Human Subject Research and the role of the OHSU IRB and Joining the IRB for more information about IRB membership. 

OHSU members should visit the Institutional Review Board (IRB) page on O2.

NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Meet the new IRB Chair - Paul Newton!

Paul Newton is an Oregon attorney with over 30 years of experience in law, regulatory affairs, compliance, ethics & bioethics, Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversight, and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) protection.  Prior to his involvement in IRB work, Paul spent fifteen years as a criminal defense lawyer.  Since beginning his work in the IRB field in 1996, Paul has served on numerous research ethics committees such as Oregon Health Division IRB, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) IRB, Legacy Health IRB, Western IRB (currently known as Western Copernicus Group, or WCG), Portland State University IRB, Yale IRB, and Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) IRB.  Paul also served as a bioethics advisor for a large pharmaceutical company, as a clinical ethics consultant for Legacy Health, and on Oregon’s genetics privacy committee. He was also a prisoner representative on the OHSU IRB for over 25 years before becoming OHSU’s Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) Director and IRB Chair in December 2023.

Updated Documents