New E-IRB Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Interactive Tool

Questions about E-IRB? Check out our new interactive tool to easily find the answers.
[HTML Interactive Tool]

Stumped when it comes to gender diversity?

Check out our new video to learn some ways you can be more welcoming and inclusive in your research practices. [HTML Video]

Remaining 2021 IRB Submission Deadlines*

The Office of Research Integrity (ORI) will be closed Friday, December 24, 2021 through Friday, December 31, 2021 and will reopen on Monday, January 3, 2022.   If you have received an Institutional Review Board (IRB) continuation review reminder, please check your approval end date and submit materials to ORI as soon as possible to prevent having your protocol approval expire.

Medical IRB

Nonmedical IRB

*All material for full Institutional Review Board (IRB) review is to be submitted via the E-IRB online submission system by 11:59 P.M. on the specified Submission Deadline date.

September 8, 2021

Message from the Vice President for Research (VPR)

Dear Colleagues,

The safety and health of our research community is our priority. We understand due to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, you have questions about potential policy changes. 

We are currently conducting research at UK at 100% capacity. We are not in a limited capacity as was prescribed in our previous Resumption of Research Phased Plan, which we ended in June 2021. 

Vaccination remains our most powerful tool in battling this pandemic. We encourage all members of our community to get vaccinated.

We are continuing to follow university guidance with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic - masking and distancing as much as possible by limiting numbers of people in close proximity in our research settings. 

To assist you in continuing research in your settings as safely as possible, we have updated the FAQs on our COVID-19 Guidance For Researchers site to answer pressing questions on topics that you have sent our way, including high school students in research laboratories, research with human participants, and vendor and site monitor policies. 

In general, if you are conducting research that is NOT taking place at a UK HealthCare facility, you must follow institutional guidance for masking, distancing and testing presented in the Fall 2021 Guidebook.

If you are conducting research at UK HealthCare facility, you must follow UK HealthCare requirements as described under Tier 4. 

Please take a few moments to review the new FAQs. In coordination with the University of Kentucky Screening, Testing and Tracing to Accelerate Restart and Transition (START) team, research leadership will continue to evaluate our policies. 

If you have questions or concerns related to COVID-19 research operations, please contact the Office of the Vice President for Research at research-covid@uky.edu.

Lisa A. Cassis, PhD
Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences
Vice President for Research
University of Kentucky

Updated VPR Guidance on High School Students engaging in research at UK [HTML]

Can I host high school students in my research laboratory? (Updated 9/8/2021)

Research that is NOT being conducted in a UK HealthCare (UKHC) clinical setting is currently operating under institutional guidelines as addressed in the Fall 2021 Guidebook for UK students. The guidebook requires that prior to being allowed access to in-person facilities and programs, UK students must provide the institution with their vaccine verification or be subject to weekly testing. For high school students who want to work with UK researchers we have established the following process to verify that these students adhere to institutional guidelines:

• Principal Investigator (PI) interacts with high school student and agrees to oversee their research within the PI’s program.
• PI communicates to the high school student that they will need to have their school certify that the student complies with UK requirements and provide to the student the following instructions to obtain verification.
• Student’s school, using official letterhead, directly submits certification for the student (or group of students) to the OVPR:
  • Certification should include the name of the PI and name of the high school student.
  • This certification does NOT require the actual vaccination record, but instead a statement indicating certification that: “This individual is in compliance with University of Kentucky requirements to have students vaccinated or tested weekly for COVID-19 in order to be on UK’s campus and/or conduct research with UK faculty, students or staff.”
  • If the high school chooses not to certify (for example, because they do not have testing capabilities), then a parent should provide this certification letter.
  • Certification letter should be sent from the high school to OVPR at research-covid@uky.edu.
• OVPR receives the certification request and then provides approval to the PI to proceed.
• PI and students should follow all other required paperwork from Environmental Health and Safety in order to have a minor in a laboratory and student must follow university policies related to mask wearing, etc. as outlined in the playbook.

Please note:  High school students are not permitted to do research in a UKHC facility (clinics or other UKHC spaces) as defined here: https://ukhealthcare.uky.edu/hospitals-clinics

Need help with a research or IRB related topic? Find answers and A-Z guidance in the IRB Survival Handbook.

ORI supports the institution in promoting ethical conduct of human research and educating University of Kentucky (UK) faculty, staff, and students regarding human research compliance and research ethics.  

ORI provides research support services including IRB review, policy development, web-based IRB submission (E-IRB), HIPAA/FERPA research reviews, protocol review management, ethical and regulatory education, quality improvement review, reliance agreement management, and research misconduct prevention and allegation management. ORI provides support for six federally mandated review committees: four Medical and one Nonmedical Institutional Review Boards (IRB), and the Radioactive Drug Research Committee (RDRC).  

The UK Human Research Program is fully accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Program (AAHRPP). Read about the 2020 AAHRPP Re-accreditation here.

UK Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) Comprehensive Plan (PDF, 22 pgs)

In December 2018, the University of Kentucky Office of Research Integrity (ORI) won an Award of Excellence for Best Practice in Human Research Protection for the “Informed Consent Workshop: From Perception to Process.” The four-hour, hands-on workshop assists researchers in adopting new informed consent rules. Read more…