Understanding The Role Of IRBs In Clinical Research

The ultimate goal of clinical research is to provide relief from, if not outright cures for, the various maladies and infirmities that plague human beings. In the ever-evolving world of research, history has shown that human frailties of another variety can sometimes send the pursuit of that goal down a less noble path. Effective regulation helps to ensure that that ultimate goal remains dominant among the many motivations that drive research.

Institutional review boards are an important example of regulatory efforts to insure the protection of the rights of human research subjects, as well as the protection of the patients who will ultimately benefit from the treatments resulting from that research.