Mercy Research Institutional Review Board (IRB)
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Mercy Institutional Review Board
The Mercy Institutional Review Board (MIRB ) is designated by the organization to review and monitor research to ensure the protections of rights, privacy and welfare of all human participants who are the subjects of research at any Mercy facility.
The Mercy IRB has the authority to review, approve, require modifications, or disapprove research submitted by investigators. The Mercy IRB may also cede oversight of certain research studies to commercial, external IRBs
when the external IRB meets federal regulations for the conduct of research and IRB review and the parties have entered into a written agreement setting forth the specific responsibilities of each party.
The Mercy IRB operates in accordance with FDA and HHS regulations for the protection of human subjects in research. In addition to complying with federal regulations, all research at Mercy must comply with Mercy’s
mission and values and the Ethical and Religious Directives (ERDs) for Catholic Health Care.
Our primary goal is to facilitate the IRB review process, provide support to investigators to assure compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations, institutional policies, and procedures which aim to protect human subjects, all while providing timely, customer friendly service to the research community.
Protecting Research Participants
It's the role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects participating in research. As part of the human subjects research oversight process, the IRB will receive and respond to research participant concerns or complaints.
If you are a research participant (past or current), or you are considering enrolling in a research study (potential participant) and have a research concern or complaint, you may file a report and the IRB will investigate. All complaints will be held in the strictest confidence unless instructed otherwise. We will do everything to review and respond to your complaint in a timely manner.
Katherine Garland, MD, is an internal medicine physician who's been with Mercy since 2013. She currently serves as the medical director of the Mercy JFK Clinic in St. Louis and is on the faculty for the Mercy Internal Medicine residency training program. Dr. Garland has been a Mercy IRB member since 2020 and a Vice Chair since 2023. In March of 2024, she assumed the role of Chair.