Skip to main content
University of Wisconsin–Madison

HRPP Newsletter June 2022

Announcing Departure of IRB Director 

We are sad to announce the departure of IRB Director Gretchen Anding.  Her last day with the UW will be June 17th. Gretchen began her career with the UW as manager of the former MR IRB in 2003, later moving into the Assistant Director role.  In 2021 she accepted the position of IRB Director, overseeing the merger of the ED/SBS IRB Office with the HS IRBs Office and providing expert leadership and guidance during the IEP project.  Gretchen will be assuming a new role with Stanford University HRPP.

We can’t thank Gretchen enough for her leadership, calming presence, and much needed weekly ‘moments of distraction’.  She will be missed enormously by her IRB colleagues.  We wish her the best of luck in her new role!

 Updated Exceptions and Deviations Guidance

The IRB recently updated guidance in the Investigator’s Manual (see Part 8) outlining when protocol deviations under the control of the study team may not require report to the IRB.  The revised guidance specifies that any planned protocol deviations must be submitted to the IRB prior to implementation unless necessary to eliminate an apparent immediate hazard; however, some types of minor deviations that have already occurred may not require report if they meet specific criteria outlined in the guidance.

 Manual Update 

The Investigator and Reliance Manuals are getting a new look! The current PDF versions of the manuals will go away, with the manuals housed directly on the IRB’s website. The objective of this redesign is to increase searchability and address challenges around downloading the PDF versions. The re-launch of the manuals is anticipated at the end of this month or early next month. As we get closer to the launch date, an announcement will be posted on the IRB’s website with additional information.

 IRB Office and RELIANT are Hiring

  • The IRB Office is hiring an IRB Analyst. The incumbent will use independent judgment to conduct thorough reviews of clinical, social/behavioral, and education research studies. Interested applicants can read more about the position and apply on the UW jobs site.
  • The UW Reliance and Navigation team (RELIANT) is hiring an IRB Reliance Analyst.  The incumbent will use independent judgment to conduct thorough review and oversee the submission process for UW-Madison studies that qualify for review by an external IRB and support study teams when UW-Madison is serving as the single IRB for multisite studies. Interested applicants can read more about the position and apply on the UW jobs site.

Previous editions of the HRPP Newsletter can be found here.