1/4 Historically, private independent IRBs were founded and owned by individuals who had a plurality of goals. For some, like @VeritasIRB, profit was never the main driving objective. medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-a… #researchethics
2/4 While we must avoid the pitfall of assuming that all private equity (PE) firms are inherently bad, the governance of PE-owned IRBs must be examined carefully. In fact, governance must be a matter of scrutiny for any #IRB regardless of its corporate structure or ownership.
3/4 Many proposals were made over the years regarding the corporate structure, operations, accountability, and independence of IRBs by scholars, including @HollyLynchez, @TrudoLemmens, @charlesweijer, and @jgdownie.
4/4 Proposals confirm the urgency of developing national and international standards pertaining to the independence of the human research protection program within organizations responsible for the conduct and oversight of human research. #standardsmatter #accreditationmatters
