Research Roundtable: Understanding Your IRB Workflow

Research Roundtable.

Published October 20, 2021

All human research studies conducted by personnel affiliated with the University at Buffalo must be submitted to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for review and approval.

Research cannot commence until approval is granted by the IRB. The UB IRB uses the Click module to receive and review all submissions, and to communicate with principal investigators and study staff.

Your research study or submission could follow different paths after it is submitted in Click. Is your study a clinical trial? Is it likely to be no greater than minimal risk? Is it a continuing review or a modification? Click has a helpful flow chart in each submission to show where it is in the review process, with a bubble filled in orange highlighting its status. But what is going on at the IRB when the submission is in that status? And what if you need help to submit your study in the first place?

This edition of “Research Roundtable” sheds some light on the IRB submission flow from start to finish. (Read about the submission flow from Central Study Registration to IRB here.)

Submission Flow: Institutional Review Board (IRB) to Final Approval

Contact Information

If you have questions about the status of your submission in Click, contact Valerie Bailoni at 716-888-4888 or ub-irb@buffalo.edu.

You may also contact the person assigned to your submission at the time via email or phone. In most cases, the person currently assigned to the submission will be labeled as the “IRB Coordinator” in the top-right of your submission page, whether it is a new study, continuing review, or modification. You may also add a comment, but make sure to check the “IRB Coordinator” box, which will send an email notification to that IRB staff member.

For Conflict of Interest questions, contact Kyle Mann at 716-645-0311 or klmann@buffalo.edu.

“Research Roundtable” is a section in the University at Buffalo Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) Translational Spotlight newsletter. Add your email to the newsletter mailing list here.