ACIRB Human Subjects Protection Training

Training Requirements

All key personnel listed on review applications submitted to the Allen College Institutional Review Board (ACIRB) must complete training in the protection of human subjects before an application will be reviewed. Data collection and contact with human subjects cannot start until project approval is received from the ACIRB.

Key personnel include the principal investigator, co-principal investigators, supervising faculty member and any other individuals who will have contact with the participants or the participants' data (e.g., interviewers, transcribers, coders, etc.).

Allen College subscribes to the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) Program for ACIRB members, faculty, students, staff and UnityPoint Health – Waterloo team members. The ACIRB will also accept National Institutes of Health (NIH) Protecting Human Research Participants Training. Certification of training from other providers may be submitted and will be evaluated by the ACIRB for adequacy and appropriateness on an individual basis.

Training certificates are honored for a five (5) year period beginning on the date that the training was completed (not on the date of submission to the ACIRB). The date training was completed can be found on the certificate of training given by the provider after the course is successfully completed. Once the 5-year anniversary date is reached, a new human subjects protections training course must be completed to sustain project approval.

CITI Training

To complete or renew training, go to http://www.citiprogram.org 

Users of Allen College’s CITI Program subscription must be affiliated with Allen College, UnityPoint Health – Waterloo or the Black Hawk County Iowa Health Department. Investigators and key personnel who are seeking ACIRB review but are not affiliated with any of these organizations may obtain permission to complete training through Allen College’s CITI Program subscription by submitting a request to ACIRB@AllenCollege.edu.

New users must register and will initially be prompted to affiliate with an organization. After affiliating with Allen College, new users should follow the prompts to complete the registration process. Registered users may choose from among three CITI Program training options:

  • Biomedical Researchers
  • Social-Behavioral-Educational Researchers
  • Health Department Researchers

Allen College students should consult with their program faculty to determine which training they should complete. Only Allen College IRB members should complete the IRB Members and Administration courses.

Investigators who complete training in the protection of human subjects using Allen College’s CITI Program subscription may renew training by completing an abbreviated renewal course within three years of the initial training. Training that is more than three years old is not eligible for a renewal course.

Proof of training in the protection of human subjects must be linked or attached to the review application in the Cayuse IRB system. Training completed through Allen College’s CITI subscription should be linked to the Cayuse IRB application using the “people finder” tool. Certificates of training completed through other providers or the CITI subscriptions of other institutions must be uploaded as attachments to the application in Cayuse IRB.