The SRA Symposium - College of Medicine

Our IRBs may carefully look for selection bias in the enrollment of our studies, but race
and ethnicity are largely socio-political concepts and the label “minority” may carry assumptions
and stereotypes rather than reflecting the inequitable power relations within our society. How does
an IRB determine whether there is a selection bias inherent to our study designs or offerings? Can
an IRB be expected to be knowledgeable about all the specific health disparities in the community
it serves?
Beyond the IRB
There is an expectation that it is an institution’s IRB that sets the barometer for the ethical
conduct of research. However, the current IRB review of protocols for equitable subject selection
is study specific. That is, the IRB reviews the ethical merits of the study at hand not whether or
not the institution should be involved in other studies that may be more attractive or meaningful
to minority populations. IRBs have the authority to “review and approve, require changes in,
and/or disapprove proposed research.” But they are not expected to make recommendations to
investigators as to what studies they should be conducting to better accommodate the needs of the
community. This is a responsibility that must be shared by the research office or, more generally,
the institutional administration. Since it is often there that the broader strategic plans for research
endeavors are discussed and implemented.
The Office of Sponsored Programs/Office of Grants and Research is by design the first
place that equitable enrollment should be analyzed. For it is here that enrollment numbers are
measured against projections and investigators negotiate for support for future projects. The data
represented in the NIH tables might be utilized better by decision makers at this level rather than
assuming it is the IRB that is the sole advisor.
Conclusion
Papers
Ensuring that our research studies are fair and equitable requires considerably more
exploration and discussion than mentioned here. However, acknowledging that this responsibility
for equitable research is not an exclusive goal, an institution can support efforts towards ensuring
distributive justice from the very inception of a research study.
2005 Symposium Proceedings Book 59