Table 1.

Continuum of IRB Collaborative Mechanisms

Mechanisms	Characteristics of Mechanism	Examples
Independent Reviews	▪ Each IRB conducts own review ▪ Investigator generally serves as the primary contact point for all IRB communications
Shared Information Systems	▪ Standardized application forms (e.g. a single application that can be submitted to multiple IRBs) ▪ Shared access to review documents ▪ Shared electronic submission systems	▪ Research Centers in Minority Institutions Translational Research Network (RTRN) IRB Harmonization Working Group (Hammatt et al. 2011); ▪ Union College–Tbilisi State Medical University Collaboration (RePORT 2012a); ▪ IRBNet (2012). ▪ IRBShare (2012).
Open Communication	▪ Communication across IRBs (staff) ▪ Communication across IRB members ▪ Designated contacts for questions across IRBs	▪ RTRN IRB Harmonization Working Group (Hammatt et al. 2011); ▪ Mapping African Research Ethics Capacity (MARC) (Ijsselmuiden et al. 2012).
Availability of Consultants for Review	▪ Designated consultants to fill knowledge gaps (e.g. scientific, regulatory, experience with the local setting, etc).
Division of Roles/Facilitated Review	▪ IRBs divide review tasks and inform each others’ reviews ▪ Timing and order of IRB reviews is specified ▪ The review of another IRB may be used to inform subsequent reviews ▪ The primary review is done by one IRB,a preserving an opportunity for input from the local IRB before the review is finalized ▪ In the limit, IRBs may fully rely on the judgments of another (e.g., IRB of record)	▪ NCI Central IRB (Christian et al.a 2002; NIH et al. 2005); ▪ IRB Share (Davis 2011); ▪ Multicenter Academic Clinical Research Organization (MACRO) (McNeil 2007); ▪ Optional use of commercial IRBs, e.g. WIRB; ▪ Institutional authorization agreements (per protocol or for multiple protocols) (NIH et al. 2005).
Joint Review/Combined IRB	▪ Members of multiple IRBs form a joint review committee ▪ Regional IRBs are formed, comprised of members from multiple IRBs	▪ University of Minnesota Collaborative IRB (Vegoe 2012); ▪ Michigan State University Community Research IRB (McNeil 2007); ▪ Dartmouth-MUHAS Joint IRB(AITRP 2012); ▪ Indiana University-Moi University Joint IRB (RePORT 2012b); ▪ Biomedical Research Alliance of New York (BRANY 2012); ▪ Regional Ethics Committees (Wood et al. 2004).