The Bronson Methodist Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversees research studies at Bronson. The purpose of the IRB is to safeguard the rights and welfare of human subjects. As regulated by the United States Department of Health & Human Services, it is composed of at least five members of varying backgrounds. The IRB membership includes community members with non-scientific backgrounds, as well as healthcare professionals with the competency to review research. Bronson's IRB meets every month to review proposals for research studies.

Research at Bronson follows regulations and guidelines established by:

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
  
• The Office for Human Research Protection (OHRP)
  
• The International Conference on Harmonization (ICH)
  
• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

We make sure research complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). Also called the Privacy Rule, this law controls access to and disclosure of a patient's confidential health information.

If you are a clinician interested in proposing research to be conducted at Bronson, please see below for submission process and application documents or call Bronson Research Services at (269) 341-7898.

Getting Started
IRB Application Instructions & Required Documents
Submission Process

IRB Application Packet
Application Form
Conflict of Interest Form
Investigator Agreement Form
Sample Cover Letter

IRB Application Tools
2009 IRB Meeting Dates & Submission Dates
2010 IRB Meeting Dates & Submission Dates
Assent Template
Financial Disclosure
Guidelines for Writing Research Protocols
Informed Consent Checklist
Informed Consent Financial Disclosure Model Language
Informed Consent Template
Research Member Team List
Responding to Allegation of Research Misconduct Policy
Short Form Consent Template
Waiver of Informed Consent and Authorization

HIPAA in Research
Privacy Rule
Checklist of Protected Health Information
How Does HIPAA Apply to My Research?
What is De-Identified Data?
What is a Limited Data Set?
HIPAA Authorization Language

Research Resources
Good Clinical Practice Guidelines
Common Rule
Declaration of Helsinki
Terms of Federal Wide Assurance (FWA)
AHRQ Research Activities Newsletter
The Belmont Report