Chattanooga Institutional Review Board
The UTHSC College of Medicine Chattanooga (UTHSC COMC) and Erlanger Health have established an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to review research projects and ensure the protection of human subjects involved. The Chair of the IRB is Manoo Bhakta, MD. Questions about the IRB and informed consent can be addressed to Stacey Hendricks, CIM, IRB Administrator. Ms. Hendricks' office is located in Suite 100 of the Whitehall Building (across from Erlanger) with the Office of the Dean.
The UTHSC IRB has transitioned to a new online submission platform, IRBNet. IRB submission request must now be submitted through the new program portal at the following website: https://www.irbnet.org/
Instructions on how to register and make submissions are located on the IRB Guidance Documents and Policies page on the UTCOMC research website.
The initial application, exemption request, HIPAA and delegation log are combined into one smart wizard form. The smart wizard form is located under the Designer tab once you begin entering a new project.
All other forms, check list and templates are located in the library tab. The check list of documents and signatures required for each type of submission is titled READ ME FIRST. Please note, do not submit your package until all required signatures are obtained. This will cause a delay in IRB review.
You can also view IRB-related forms for additional guidance documents, such as levels of review, review of QI/QA projects, membership lists, FWA certification, etc.
The IRB meets monthly to discuss requests that require full board review (more than minimal risk projects). The meetings occur on the fourth Wednesday of most months at 8:00 am and have been set in the Computer Classroom in the Whitehall Building or via Zoom.
Investigators are required to participate in these meetings to present new proposals and revisions to currently approved protocols. Investigators and research coordinators may be asked to attend to present continuing review information, major revisions as well as serious adverse events reported on-site. Investigators will be scheduled according to the order requests are received. All requests for Full Board review must be received by noon on the submission deadline dates below.
Expedited, Exempt or QI submissions are reviewed weekly. Completed submissions received by Tuesday will be reviewed by the end of that week. Submissions received after Tuesday will be reviewed by the end of the following week.
You can also view IRB-related forms.
2024 – Full Board IRB Submission Deadlines and Meeting Dates
| IRB Submission Deadline | Meeting Dates |
| March 6, 2024 | March 27, 2024 |
| April 3, 2024 | April 24, 2024 |
| May 1, 2024 | May 22, 2024 |
| June 5, 2024 | June 26, 2024 |
| July 3, 2024 | July 24, 2024 |
| August 7, 2024 | August 28, 2024 |
| September 4, 2024 | September 25, 2024 |
| October 2, 2024 | October 23, 2024 |
| November 6, 2024 | November 27, 2024 |
| November 27, 2024 | December 18, 2024 |
| January 1, 2025 | January 22, 2025 |