Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is implementing a new platform designed to streamline research activities and standardize the regulatory review of VA research operations across the nation. VA said Monday its Office of Research and Development (ORD) has transitioned 105 research-active medical centers and the Central Institutional Review Board (IRBNet) to the new IRBNet platform.
IRBNet consolidates all research operations into a single platform and provides ORD a nationwide research overview in the form of a unified, authoritative dataset.
VA also expects IRBNet to support policy implementation, mitigate regulatory risks, boost research transparency and reduce the workload of research offices.
“This enterprise approach will decrease the need for national data calls and will enable the Office of Research and Development to have an ‘air traffic control board’ to see where studies, by topic, are happening across the system,” said Molly Klote, director at VA's Office of Research Protections, Policy and Education.