







































Institutional Ethical Review Board (IERB) : Concept & Context


Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics, 2011; 2(2):24-25

INSTITUTIONAL ETHICAL REVIEW BOARD (IERB): CONCEPT & CONTEXT

Dr. Md. Humayun Kabir Talukder1, Dr. Md. Zakir Hossain2 , Dr. Nasrin Ahkter 3, Ismat Ara Perveen4

1. Associate Professor & Course Director, Centre for Medical Education, Dhaka 
2. Registrar, Sapporo Dental College, Dhaka 
3. Asstt. Prof, Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka
4.  Instructor, Nursing College, Dhaka

Abstract:  According to modern concept of institutional review board, all proposal of biomedical research 

involving  human  participants  should  be  cleared/approved  by  an  Institutional  review  board  (IRB)  is 

mandatory. Competence and independence are the two hallmarks of an IRB. The responsibilities of an IRB 

are protection of dignity, rights and well being of potential research participants. All research projects do not 

pass through IRB in Bangladesh. Many researches have been performed without ethical clearance. Young 

healthcare professionals are scare about IRB as they have little ides about IRB. Structure of IRB, Review 

procedures and IRB in Bangladesh are discussed in this paper to better understanding of ethical process of 

research paper to the health care professsionals.

Introduction: The modern concept of institutional review board originated in 1970s.1  It is mandatory  that all 

proposal  on  biomedical  research  involving  human  participants  should  be  cleared/approved  by  an 

appropriately constituted institutional  ethical review board (IERB)/ institutional  ethic committee(IEC),  also 

referred to as Institutional review board (IRB) ethics review board (ERB) and Research Ethics board(REB) in 

other  countries.2  Competence  and  independence  are  the  two  hallmarks  of  an  (IERB)/  (IEC)  .The 

responsibilities of   an (IERB)/ (IEC) are  protection of dignity, rights and well being of potential research 

participants; ensuring that universal ethical values and international scientific standards are expressed in 

terms of  community values and customs and assistance in the development and in the education of  a 

research community responsive to local health care requirements.2 The boards are responsible for review of 

the proposed research proposal prior to initiation of the project. They also have the responsibility of regular 

monitoring of the approved research project to foresee the compliance of the ethics during the period of the 

project.2 Actions of IERB are approval- approve without stipulation, approve with stipulations. They enforce 

rules regarding noncompliant investigations by rejecting a proposal or termination of an investigation1.   In 

composition the (IERB)/ (IEC) should be multisectorial and multidisciplinary. Institutional ethical review board 

(IERB)  is  a  body  consisting of  concerned odd number  of  persons  (9-11).  The (IERB)/  (IEC)  may be 

comprised of a chairperson; One or two persons from basic medical science; one or two clinicians from 

various institutes ; one legal experts; one social scientist or representative of non governmental voluntary 

agency; one philosopher /ethicist/theologian ;  one lay person from the community  2,1. The  (IERB)/ (IEC) 

members should be encouraged to be updated of  all  national  and international  developments in ethics 

through  orientation  courses  on  related  topics  by  its  own  members  or  regular  training  organized  by 

constituted body.2 

Review procedures by (IERB)/ (IEC): For a research proposal on human participants a scientific evaluation 

by a appropriate  Scientific Review committee has been completed before ethical  review is taken up. A 

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research  proposal  should  be  screened  by  the (IERB)/  (IEC)  secretariat   for  their  completeness  and 

depending on the risk involved  categorizes into three types , namely , exemption from review , expedited 

review and full  review  2,  1.  A proposal  which  present  less than minimal  risk  fall  under  the  category of 

exemption from review  and administratively reviewed does not require board review. The proposal having 

no more than minimal risk  to research participants may be fall under the category of expedited review and 

usually reviewed by sub committee. All research presenting with more than minimal risk , or  those proposal/ 

projects which do not qualify to fall under the category of exemption from review , expedited review and 

proposal/ projects that involve vulnerable population and special groups  shall be subjected to review by all 

members of the (IERB)/ (IEC).  Research intended for publication are generally subjected to be reviewed by 

institutional review board.(2,1)  Completion of IRB process is time consuming and expensive . The Bell report 

for the national institute s of health described annual work load facing 491 IRBs including an estimated 

284,000 reviews.3

Ethics review committees in Bangladesh: Bangladesh is a developing country in the South Asia region. 

Health  research demand is  increasing as there are huge health  problems. In Bangladesh there is  one 

central  ethics  review  committee  and  nine  institutional  committees. The  Bangladesh  Medical  Research 

Council ethics committee is considered as the central/ National ethics review committee4. The nine other 

ethics review committees are functioning in seven postgraduate medical institutes and two medical college. 

The institutes are Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib medical university, National Institute of preventive and social 

medicine, National  Institute of  the Kidney Diseases and Urology (NIKDU), Institute of  Child and Mother 

Health  (ICMH),  Bangladesh  Institute  of  Child  Health  (BICH),  Chittagong  Medical  College  (CMC),  Sir 

Salimullah Medical College (SSMC), Rajshahi Medical College (RMC) and Bangladesh Institute of Research 

for promotion of essential and reproductive health and technologies. ICDDR’B has its own ethics review 

committee. Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) was established in1972 as an autonomous body 

by order  of  the president  under  the Ministry  of  Health  and Family  Welfare.  The central  Ethics  Review 

committee was established in 1979. At present committee consists of 11 members5. The clinicians, Lawyers, 

laypersons and religious leaders are included   as members. The Committee is formed by the Executive 

Committee of the BMRC and has tenure of three years. The committee is registered in the Office for Human 

Resource Protection in the USA as an Official Institutional Review Board and it has federal wide assurance. 

About 100 research proposals are reviewed by Central Ethics Review Committee of BMRC.

References: 

1. Parviji j, Tarity D, Conner K, Smith B, Institutional review board approval: Why it matters? Journal of bone and 
Joint Surgery .2007; 89:

2. Institutional Ethical Review Board Jawaharlal Nehru University   http://www.jnu.ac.in/IERB/ICMR guideline

3. A central Institutional Review Board for a Multi – Institutional Trials. N Engl J Med 2002;346(18)   www.nejm.org 

4. Rashid  HA,   Regional perspectives in research  ethics : a report from Bangladesh Eastern Mediterranean 
Health Journal, 2006 ;12 (1) 

5. Bangladesh Medical Research council 
www.bmrcbd.org

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http://www.nejm.org/
http://www.jnu.ac.in/IERB/ICMR

