Heartland IRB specializes in social science and education research as well as program evaluation protocols for grant funded projects. We do not review clinical protocols. Our reviewers are experts in both quantitative and qualitative research tools and experienced in all aspects of education, social science, workforce training/education, rehabilitation, health, kinesiology, social work, psychology, business, technology, and program evaluation.
Heartland IRB is a commercial IRB. We do NOT review clinical studies, studies requiring invasive collection of data, studies involving new or emerging technologies that are of an invasive nature in their use, or classified research studies. We also do not review research studies that occur outside of the US.
Regulated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), all Institutional Review Boards have the authority to approve, disapprove, or require revision of research designed to collect data from or about individuals, subject to the rules outlined by the OHRP and the FDA. If research is funded by state or federal agencies, then IRB review is legally required. IRBs require researchers to submit protocols that describe the proposed research and data collection activities. Also, IRBs often conduct periodic reviews of funded research to ensure that these protocols are carried out in the manner specified.
Grant funded projects may also be asked to collect program data or conduct research with participants in their programs. For this, grantees may be required to submit materials to an IRB for review. Even if an IRB review is not required by the government, many grant funded programs that deliver services to minors (children under the age of 18) and are required to collect data from these participants should safe guard their investment by obtaining IRB approval prior to initiating data collection for their program evaluation. This reduces the risk of complaints, legal problems, or negative publicity if problems arise. Working with an IRB also assures project directors and their governing board members that their evaluation procedures protect study participants.