MEMO
SFU
attention : Senate
c/o Kate Ross, Registrar and Secretary to
Senate
S.13-49
TEL
1 FROM
Simon Verdun-Jones, Chair, Resarch Ethics Board
RE
Annual REB Senate Report 2011-2012
DATE
February 20, 2013
| time
Dear Kate Ross:
In accordance with Policy R20.01, "Ethics Review of Research Involving Human
Subjects", Section 14.7, I am submitting, on behalf
of the Research Ethics Board,
the Annual
Report to Senate. The report spans the time frame September 1, 2011
to January 31, 2013.
Simon N. Verdun-Jones, J.S.D.
Professor, Criminology
Chair, Research Ethics Board
Enclosure
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SIMON PHASER UNIVERSITY
ENGAGING THE WORLD
OFFICE OF RES EARCH ETHICS
?
Annual?Report?to?Senate?
September?1,?2011–?January?31,?2013?
??
Over?the?past?year?and?a?half,?the?SFU?REB?has?refined?its?policies?and?procedures?in?order?
to?clarify?its?standard?requirements?for?research?submissions,?kept?abreast?of?national?and?
provincial?changes?in?guidelines?and?legislation?that?impact?research?ethics,?provided?
ongoing?education?and?continued?to?be?responsive?to?the?inquiries?of?our?research?
community.???
?
The?SFU?REB?requested?an?external?review?of?the?Research?Ethics?Board?and?the?Office?of?
Research?Ethics.?With?the?results?of?this?external?review?and?the?changes?made?to?the?TriȀ
Council?Policy?Statement:?
Ethical?Conduct?for?Research?Involving?Humans?
(2010),?SFU’s?
Policy?R20.01?was?revised.?The?SFU?REB?was?actively?involved?in?the?revisions?to?R20.01?
and?had?requested?that?the?position?of?Associate?Director,?ORE,?be?created.??The?REB’s?
request?was?accepted?and?the?appointment?of?Dina?Shafey,?PhD,?MBA?to?Associate?Director,?
ORE,?was?made.?The?current?membership?of?the?REB?and?current?ORE?staff?can?be?found?
below.?The?Chair,?Dr.?VerdunȀJones,?was?reȀelected?until?May?31,?2013?and?Dr.?Gary?
McCarron?elected?as?Deputy?Chair?until?May?2013.??
?
Current?Members?
Elected?by/from?Faculty?
Faculty?
Term?Ends?
Simon Verdun-Jones (Chair)
?
Arts and Social Sciences
?
May?31,?2013?
Gary?McCarron?(Deputy?
Chair)
Communication,?Art?and?
Technology??
May?31,?2013?
Rodney?Vaughan?
Applied?Sciences?
May?31,?2013?
Cindy?Patton?
Arts and Social Sciences
?
May?31,?2013?
Kim?Trottier?
Business?Administration?
May?31,?2015?
Maureen?Hoskyn?
Education?
May?31,?2015?
Denise?Zabkiewicz?
Health?Sciences?
May?31,?2015?
Robert?Young?
Science?
May?31,?2013?
Vacant?
Environment?
May?31,?2013?
?
??
?
Elected?by?Senate?from?
University?Community?
Department?
Term?Ends?
Ehsan?Joszghi?
Criminology
?
May?31,?2013?
Gord?Pritchard
SIAT?
May?31,?2013?
?
Student?Member?Elected?
by?Senate?
?
Term?Ends?
ChooȀMing?Yeak?
Student
?
May?31,?2013?
Andreas?Pilarinos
Alternate?Student?
May?31,?2013?
?
Elected?by?Senate?from?
Community?at?Large?
?
Term?Ends?
Margit?Nance?
?
May?31,?2013?
Laurence?Turner
?
May?31,?2013?
OFFICE OF RES EARCH ETHICS
?
Office?of?Research?Ethics?
Hal?Weinberg,?Director,?ExȀofficio?(nonȀvoting)?
Dina?Shafey,?Associate?Director?(nonȀvoting)?
Barb?Zollinger,?Ethics?Manager?
?
Janet?Yule,?Ethics?Assistant?
Angela?Tai,?Office?Assistant?
Paola?Pinto?Vidal,?Office?Assistant?(1/2?time)?
?
Demand?For?Research?Ethics?Review?
All?SFU?Faculty,?Staff?and?Students?with?new?studies?submit?an?initial?application?for?ethical?
review?which?must?be?reviewed?and?receive?approval?by?the?SFU?REB?and/or?the?
Director/Associate?Director,?ORE?before?any?researchȀrelated?procedures?can?be?conducted
.?
Applications?for?amendments?to?previously?approved?studies?are?also?received?throughout?
the?year?for?studies?that?require?changes?to?the?research?protocol,?consent?form(s)?or?other?
documentation.??All?amendments?must?be?approved?prior?to?implementation.?
?
Throughout?September?2011?to?August?2012,?589?requests?for?initial?ethical?review?of?
research?were?received?and?reviewed?by?the?SFU?REB/ORE.?The?volume?of?initial?ethical?
reviews?increased?from?the?previous?years?(Figure?1,?Figure?2).??Additionally,?there?were?11?
REB?approved?courses?this?past?year.?
?
Figure?1:?Minimal?Risk?Study?Approvals?by?Academic?Year?September?1,?2009?to?
August?31,?2012.?
?
?
?
Figure?2:?GreaterȀThanȀMinimal?Risk?Study?Approvals?by?Academic?Year?September?
1,?2009?to?August?31,?2012.?
?
?
?
400?
450?
500?
550?
600?
2011Ȁ2012?
2010Ȁ2011?
2009Ȁ2010?
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Minimal?Risk?Approvals?
0?
5?
10?
2011Ȁ2012?
2010Ȁ2011?
2009Ȁ2010?
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GreaterȀthanȀMinimal?Risk?Approvals?
OFFICE OF RES EARCH ETHICS
Proportionate?review?requires?that?research?studies?that?may?be?designated?as?greaterȀ
thanȀminimal?risk?or?are?more?complex?in?nature?must?be?reviewed?by?the?Full?Board.?
Delegated?review?for?new?applications?can?occur?when?the?study?is?considered?to?be?of?
minimal?risk?to?the?prospective?participants.?Figure?3?highlights?the?number?of?applications?
that?were?reviewed?by?the?Full?Board.???
?
Figure?3:?Full?Board?Reviews?Conducted?by?Academic?Year?September?1,?2009?to?
August?31,?2012?
?
?
Note?the?increase?in?Full?Board?Reviews?conducted?this?past?year?compared?to?previous?
years.?This?increase?demonstrates?the?growth?in?the?number?of?complex?research?studies?
being?conducted?by?SFU?faculty,?students?and?staff?and?the?time?required?for?the?REB?
members?to?conduct?these?reviews?to?ensure?participants’?safety?and?that?risks?to?
participants?are?properly?managed?and?mitigated.?
?
Many?different?types?of?research?studies?are?reviewed?by?the?Full?Board.?Figure?4?shows?the?
distribution?of?research?studies?reviewed?by?the?Full?Board?for?various?SFU?Faculties?and?
Departments.??
?
Figure?4:??Full?Board?Review?Distribution?of?Research?Studies?by?Discipline?Type?
?
0?
10?
20?
30?
40?
50?
2011Ȁ2012?
2010Ȁ2011?
2009Ȁ2010?
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Full?Board?Review?
Archaeology?
Biological?
Sciences?
Biomedical?
Phyisology?and?
Kinesiology?
Criminology?
Engineering?
Science?
Geography?
Gerontology?
Health?Sciences?
Psychology?
Science??
Urban?Studies?
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Distribution?of?Discipline?Type??
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Full?Board?Review?
OFFICE OF RES EARCH ETHICS
?
?
More?than?half?of?the?research?studies?conducted?at?SFU?are?conducted?by?graduate?students?
as?the?principal?investigators?(Figure?5).?SFU?is?fairly?unique?among?Canadian?Universities?
in?permitting?graduate?students?to?be?named?principal?investigators?on?research?studies.?
There?are?many?challenges?in?permitting?graduate?students?to?apply?for?research?ethics?
review?as?principal?investigators?because?of?the?minimal?research?experience?that?they?have?
obtained?to?date.?However,?in?permitting?students?to?apply?for?research?ethics?review?as?
principal?investigators,?SFU?and?the?SFU?REB?have?given?these?students?an?opportunity?to?
understand?the?necessity?of?thinking?about?the?impact?their?research?can?have?on?
individuals?as?well?as?communities.??
?
Figure?5:?Distribution?of?Research?Studies?by?Principal?Investigator?Type?
?
?
?
?
?
Challenges?Ahead?
The?SFU?REB?continues?to?evolve?and?keep?current?with?best?practices?in?the?ethical?review?
of?research.??As?research?ethics?is?always?in?“evolution”,?the?SFU?REB?is?striving?towards?the?
application?of?consistent?standards.??The?SFU?REB?has?undergone?a?process?to?keep?abreast?
of?the?revisions?to?the?TriȀCouncil?Policy?Statement?and?its?obligations?to?revise?REB?policies?
accordingly.??The?revisions?to?R20.01?will?require?that?the?Office?of?Research?Ethics?Tutorial?
for?Graduate?Students?be?revised?to?reflect?those?policy?changes.?
?
In?addition,?the?SFU?REB?will?continue?to?participate?in?a?provincial?exercise,?carried?out?
under?the?auspices?of?the?Michael?Smith?Foundation?for?Health?Research,?to?develop?and?
implement?harmonized?ethical?review?processes?in?British?Columbia?for?multiȀjurisdictional?
research.?The?SFU?REB?will?continue?to?evaluate?how?the?review?process?can?be?streamlined?
to?eliminate?any?unnecessary?redundancy.???
Faculty?
Graduate?
Students?
Undergraduate?
Students?
PostȀ
Doctorate?
Fellows?
Adjunct?
Staff?
Other??
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Distribution?of?Principal?Investigator?
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Type?
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