Pressures on IRB Members in the Review of Community-Engaged Research

While increasing amounts of research are being conducted in community settings, and claim to have community involvement in their design and operation, only recently has attention been paid to the level of knowledge IRB members have about the issues involved in such research. There is concern about whether the correct questions are being asked to ensure true community participation, particularly since the lines between “research” and “program development” are much less clear once projects move beyond large academic research settings, and some IRBs might not see a given project as "research" needing their review. In addition, the type of IRB involved in research review has expanded to include a growing sector of private for-profit review boards, raising a whole new level of concern. This presentation examines pressures on the members of varying types of Institutional Review Boards which might lead them to more or less adequately review community engaged research. Using results from a nationwide survey of IRBs, it will describe the pressures IRB members experience, with particular attention to the characteristics of the members themselves, the types of IRB with which they are affiliated, and to the relationships of IRBs to the communities being studied.