The conduct of research at Children's Wisconsin is deeply connected to the institution's mission of CARE:

The Children's Wisconsin Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) is committed to protecting human subjects participating in research.

Human Subject Protection is a system of ethical principles, federal and state laws, local institutional policies, Federal and state oversight agencies, institutional safety committees, and institutional departments, all working together to safeguard the rights and welfare of humans participating in research. This is done by ensuring research conducted at our institution:

• protects the rights and welfare of subjects in human research
• is guided by the ethical principles of the Belmont Report
  • Respect for persons
  • Beneficence
  • Justice
• is conducted with the highest level of expertise and integrity
• complies with applicable laws and institutional policy

Institutional Review Boards (IRB's, sometimes called "ethics boards") are an essential component in the system of Human Research Protection. The IRB is an ethical oversight committee that reviews initial and ongoing research. Their primary responsibility is to ensure the rights and welfare of human subjects are protected during their participation in research. Before approving research, the IRB must consider whether ethical principles and applicable laws regarding the protection of human subjects are adequately applied in specific research projects. They scrutinize each proposed research study and revision to existing studies to ensure that:

• research methods are ethical
• patients' rights are protected
• patients' give adequate informed consent for their participation
• any possible benefits are commensurate with the risks involved
• researchers maximize the safety of subjects once they are enrolled in a study

The Children's IRB is made up of two committees, each meeting once a month. These boards are diverse in their membership, made up of physicians and scientists from a variety of specialty areas, non-scientists and community representatives.

HRPP Contact Information

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