What is the difference between the CARAS Human Research Protections Program (HRPP) and the CARAS Research Support Program (RSP)?
The CARAS Human Research Protections Program (HRPP) and CARAS Research Support Program (RSP) are complementary, but the two programs are different in mission and scope.
The HRPP is focused on oversight of regulated research projects, including formal regulatory determinations and management of the CARAS IRB. The CARAS HRPP provides oversight of human subjects research under the jurisdiction of United States law and regulation.
The RSP is focused on assisting researchers and students in the planning and execution of their research, and ensuring that communities affected by research have a voice in the proposed research. RSP activities include research review through the CARAS community advisory board, and consulting and educational activities to assist investigators and students. Projects addressed by the RSP are international in scope and include the biomedical, social, and behavioral sciences, but also scholarship in the arts and humanities. RSP activities may reference regulatory requirements if applicable, but in a consulting and advisory role.
What is the difference between the CARAS Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the CARAS Research Advisory Committee (RAC)?
The CARAS Institutional Review Board (IRB) provides oversight of particular human subjects research projects that must comply with federal regulations and other U.S. legal requirements.
The CARAS Research Advisory Committee (RAC), as a community advisory board, is not a regulated activity and the RAC does not make formal regulatory determinations. While criteria for RAC endorsement are largely consistent with U.S. federal (and international) requirements for the approval of human subjects research, RAC criteria for endorsement emphasize concerns of the communities supported by CARAS that go beyond regulatory requirements. Examples include the evaluation of potential community-level benefits and harms, including the potential long-range effects of research, that are not a part of federal requirements. Also, participation of community representatives in RAC deliberations go beyond federal requirements related to IRB membership and the approval of human subjects research. The RAC reviews projects such as scholarship in the arts and humanities that are not classified as human subjects research under U.S. regulations, and thus do not require IRB review.