Contact: Jim Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Research involving human subjects will be in focus this week at the third-annual IRB Connections Conference at Mississippi State University.
An Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects, commonly shortened to IRB, is the method by which institutions facilitate human subjects research and ensure that the rights and welfare of the subjects are protected.
More than 50 participants from Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi have registered for the Friday [July 26] meeting. They include faculty, staff, administrators and IRB members, according to an MSU official.
"The conference facilitates connections between our neighboring schools, which helps build a regional community, and it also offers a professional development opportunity at the local level," said Kacey Strickland, the director of the Office of Research Compliance at MSU.
Topics on the agenda include minimizing risks, human-robot interaction, social media data collection, and a roundtable discussion of new and ongoing issues in human research protections.
Mississippi State faculty leading presentations include Daniel Carruth, assistant research professor, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems; Cindy Bethel, assistant professor of computer science and engineering; and John Edwards, assistant research professor, Social Science Research Center. Kari Babski-Reeves, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering, will moderate the roundtable.
"We appreciate the time and effort Mississippi State researchers are contributing to the conference, and are looking forward to a great day of learning and networking opportunities with our peers from other universities," said Jodi Roberts, MSU's IRB officer.