The Common Rule's sIRB mandate states organizations engaged in cooperative research must rely upon approval by a single IRB for that portion of the research conducted in the U.S. Cooperative research is defined as projects covered by this policy involving more than one institution.
The University of Chicago BSD IRB will rely on an external IRB when required by regulation or policy and on a case-by-case basis. The University of Chicago BSD IRB has the responsibility to review multi-center research projects that request the BSD IRB to rely upon an external reviewing IRB prior to completing a reliance agreement. In these cases, the BSD IRB may review the following documentation and/or appropriate information including, but not limited to: external IRB’s Institutional information, regulatory requirements, protocol document, and consent form document.
Information about relying on an external IRB can be found below:
UChicago Relying upon an External IRB