The Central Institutional Review Board
Initiative (CIRB www.ncicirb.org) was created to better support
medical research efforts by reducing the administrative burden on
local Institutional Review Boards and medical researchers while
protecting human research participants. Beginning in January 2001,
the Adult CIRB has been meeting twice monthly to review Phase 3
Cooperative Group trials. The Pediatric CIRB began reviewing all
NCI-approved COG Phase 2, 3 and Pilot protocols beginning in
November 2004. Both Boards are composed of individuals who
represent a broad range of oncology scientific and nonscientific
disciplines covering the public health sector. These may include
health professionals such as oncology physicians, nurses, patient
representatives, pharmacists, ethicists, and attorneys. As none of
the Board members are NCI employees, the Board collectively is made
up of public members. There are 6 general areas in which forms are
completed. These include CIRB: helpdesk, enrollment, membership,
direct deposit, application, and reviewer forms. The enrollment
form was developed to collect information for any new sites that
are interested in enrolling into the CIRB Initiative. The
membership documents were created to collect information on the
members of the CIRB. There are currently two Boards (Adult and
Pediatric), with 18 members on the Adult Board and 15 members on
the Pediatric Board. The application forms are required to be
submitted to the CIRB in order to complete a submission for review.
The reviewer forms are completed by the Board Members when they
submit their reviews. The CIRB Helpdesk Survey seeks to collect
information that can be used by the CIRB in a systematic fashion to
improve operations and enhance reviewer satisfaction with the
initiative. The remainders of the forms are necessary in order to
facilitate a complete review of protocols by the CIRB with the
absence of conflict of interest in place.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.