Institutional Review Board 

The primary goal of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) is to ensure the safety, health, and privacy of human subjects in research and scholarly projects.

The IRB is responsible for ensuring compliance with the federal requirements that govern all research with human subjects (funded or not), unless projects meet specific criteria for exemption.

The IRB aims to assist faculty in the conduct of successful studies with human subjects, by helping them meet the criteria for IRB approval.

No project involving human subjects may begin before IRB exemption or approval is received.

Non-exempt projects must be reviewed and approved at a convened meeting of the IRB, except for certain minimal risk projects that qualify for an expedited review performed by one or more IRB board members. Projects must then be re-reviewed by the IRB no more than 365 days after approval (at a full IRB meeting if the original approval required full IRB review), even if the start date of the research is postponed. The IRB office will issue requests for a progress report in advance of the review date, and continued approval will be contingent on an adequate response.

Further, LSU requires all researchers (students and faculty) to read and sign the data security form (see link above). It must be signed within the six months prior to the protocol submission.  No applications will be approved without the signed agreement.

LSU also requires all researchers (students and faculty) to complete the CITI Program online human subjects research training in either social and behavioral research or biomedical research (see training link above). It takes about four hours. Upon successfully completing the course, you will receive an electronic certificate, which you will need to attach to your IRB application. No IRB applications will be approved until certificates are obtained.

All inquiries for the IRB should be directed to Dr. Alex Cohen—see information below.

Contact Info:
Alex Cohen, PhD, Chair
Douglas Villien, Compliance Specialist
131 David Boyd Hall
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803

Email: irb@lsu.edu
Phone: 225-578-8692
Fax: 225-578-5983