Guidance for Resumption of Research 4/7/2022
The SMU IRB, in response to the reduced COVID-19 risk assessments produced by the CDC and Dallas County, recently voted to move to Phase 4 of the resumption of research. This means that most in-person research with human subjects may be conducted without COVID-19 precautions.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic is not over, and risks to participants still exist: some locations continue to experience elevated transmission rates, and some populations remain at higher risk. It is at the discretion of the Principal Investigator to determine if these location- and participant-specific risks necessitate continued COVID-19 precautions. The CDC offers guidance about county-specific COVID-19 risks and groups at increased risk for severe illness. Research conducted internationally may also require COVID-19 precautions. If you are unsure if your protocol needs additional precautions, please contact Research Compliance to discuss your unique research situation.
- If your IRB-approved research protocol never resumed during the pandemic, you may resume normal in-person research interactions without notifying the IRB, taking into consideration location- and participant-specific risks as appropriate.
- If you changed all research procedures exclusively to remote formats, you may begin or resume normal in-person research interactions, taking into consideration location- and participant-specific risks as appropriate. Please notify the IRB of your intention to do so by emailing Research Compliance.
- If your research protocol was approved by the IRB for remote interactions only, and you would like to begin in-person interactions, file an amendment in the Mentor IRB Management System detailing the new in-person procedures, taking into consideration location- and participant-specific risks as appropriate.
- If your IRB-approved research was permitted to resume in-person interactions with COVID-19 precautions, you may remove those precautions and resume normal in-person research interactions, taking into consideration location- and participant-specific risks as appropriate. Please notify the IRB of your intention to do so by emailing Research Compliance.
The SMU IRB will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and make changes as needed to protect researchers and research participants. If you have any questions, please contact Heather McClary at hpowell@smu.edu or 214-768-2030.