Clinical Trial Glossary Term

Human subjects protection review board

A group of people who review, approve, and monitor the clinical study's protocol. Their role is to protect the rights and welfare of people participating in a study (referred to as human research subjects), such as reviewing the informed consent form. The group typically includes people with varying backgrounds, including a community member, to make sure that research activities conducted by an organization are completely and adequately reviewed. Also called an institutional review board, or IRB, or an ethics committee. For more information, see Who can join clinical research? on this site.