State University System IRB Reciprocity Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding
In January 2016, the State University System of Florida executed an IRB Reciprocity Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) among the SUS institutions. This agreement and MOU permits the reciprocal use of IRB for research conducted by investigators at SUS institutions.
Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding (January 2016)
To facilitate use of the new agreement, an SUS IRB workgroup developed a form for local and site investigators to request permission to rely on the IRB from another SUS institution based on input from all SUS institutions.
Permission to Rely Form (November 2016)
This form should be completed by the Principal Investigator (PI) and submitted to the IRB at their institution. The local IRB will determine if it is appropriate to rely upon another SUS institution’s IRB. If approved by the local IRB, the form should be sent to the Principal Investigator at the reviewing institution. Local institutions with electronic IRB systems may require researchers to utilize the electronic system to obtain permission, which should be able to generate comparable information for the reviewing institution.
Refer to the SUS Reciprocity Process flow chart below for more details about how the form and process may be implemented. The exact process and requirements regarding the interactions between the relying institution(s) and the reviewing institution will be determined by the reviewing institution.
At this time, non-SUS institutions are not part of the SUS IRB reciprocity agreement. If a non-SUS institution is participating, then the reviewing institution will utilize existing processes and protocols for establishing an agreement with the non-SUS institution.