The Queen’s University Research Ethics Boards (REBs): Health Sciences and Affiliated Teaching Hospitals Research Ethics Board (HSREB) and General Research Ethics Board (GREB) play a crucial role in ensuring the ethical conduct of research involving human participants. On some occasions, these reviews would benefit from the input of specialized subject matter experts (SME) to bring a select body of experience and knowledge to the nature of the ethical issues involved. To address this issue, we propose the establishment of an Affiliated Research Ethics Pool (AREP) to assist HSREB and GREB in reviewing studies where specialized knowledge is required.
The creation of AREP is aligned with the TCPS 2 2022, Article 6.5: "The REB should have provisions for consulting ad hoc advisors in the event that it lacks the specific expertise or knowledge to review the ethical acceptability of a research proposal competently. If the REB is reviewing a project that requires particular community or participant representation or specific disciplinary or methodological expertise not available from its members, it should have provisions for consulting ad hoc advisors. Consultation with an ad hoc advisor shall not alter the composition and representation of the REB as outlined in Article 6.4.
More information
Review AREP's Terms of Reference (PDF 81.7 KB) - Approved October 23, 2024
Queen's Federalwide Assurance Number: FWA00004184
GREB IRB Number: IRB00003062