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Research Ethics Board

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Niagara Health ensures that all research is performed ethically, and in accordance with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans.

Niagara Health has centralized ethics review for clinical research and clinical trials under the Hamilton integrated Research Ethics Board (HiREB). HiREB is also one of Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO) qualified review boards. 

The Hamilton integrated Research Ethics Board (HIREB) is a jointly constituted board of Hamilton Health Sciences, McMaster University’s Faculty of Health Sciences and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton.

The mandate of the HiREB is to safeguard the rights, safety, and well-being of all research participants.

All research projects involving Niagara Health, McMaster University, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Sciences physicians, staff (including staff acting as investigators outside the Institution), students (i.e., research within the institution or using institutional resources), or patients, must obtain ethical approval from the HiREB before research can begin. The HiREB is responsible, on behalf of the institutions, for ensuring that all research involving human subjects under the auspices of its institutions meet current ethical standards.

The HiREB reviews and approves research projects that meet acceptable ethical and scientific standards and for which adequate facilities and resources are available. The HIREB also provides advice on the ethical, scientific and technical aspects of planning research

For additional information, or to submit an application, please visit www.hireb.ca 

Niagara Health System