Human Research Protection Program
Dartmouth College
Human Research Protection Program (HRPP)
Ensuring the ethical conduct of research and protecting human subjects is a shared endeavor. The Dartmouth HRPP is responsible for the oversight of biomedical and social behavioral research. The HRPP is not an office, but rather the collective effort by all of the components that participate in the conduct, review, approval, education, quality improvement, and facilitation of human research at Dartmouth to ensure that Dartmouth complies with all applicable federal, state, and local regulations and requirements. Dartmouth's program for protecting the rights and welfare of human research subjects is organized with the support of each responsible stakeholder.
Components of the HRPP include:
- Office of the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects
- Office of Research Integrity; Conflict of Interest Committee
- Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP)
- Office of the General Counsel
- Environmental Health & Safety Office (EHS)
- Institutional Biosafety Committee
- Technology Transfer Office (TTO)
- Title IX Office
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AAHRPP ACCREDITATION
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As a part of Dartmouth's commitment to providing a robust human subjects protection program for participants involved in research being conducted at Dartmouth, the Dartmouth HRPP is currently pursuing AAHRPP Accreditation.
What is AAHRPP and what will being accredited mean to Dartmouth?
AAHRPP (pronounced “a-harp”) is an independent, non-profit organization that accredits high-quality human research protection programs in order to promote excellent, ethically sound research. To earn accreditation, organizations must provide tangible evidence—through policies, procedures, and practices—of their commitment to scientifically and ethically sound human research and to continuous improvement.
AAHRPP accreditation uses a set of objective standards to evaluate the quality and level of protection that an organization provides to research participants. The process is based on self-assessment, peer assessment, and continuous quality improvement.
The goals of AAHRPP accreditation are to:
- Improve and strengthen the systems that protect the rights and welfare of individuals who participate in research
- Communicate to the public the strength of Dartmouth’s commitment to the protection of human research participants
The benefits of accreditation extend beyond the research subjects and to the research enterprise as a whole. To find out more about the value of accreditation, visit this page from AAHRPP
What is involved in the Accreditation Process?
There are four (4) major steps in the accreditation process.
- The first step is a comprehensive self-assessment and submission of the Step 1 application, which also included the development of new or revised policies and procedures.
- The application is reviewed and a response to the review along with any revised supporting documents is submitted as Step 2 Application.
- This is then followed by a site visit from AAHRPP to evaluate our human research protections program. AAHRPP selects the individuals to be interviewed. Anyone who has a role in Dartmouth’s HRPP may be selected for an interview; this includes principal investigators and research team members, IRB members and administrative staff supporting Dartmouth’s HRPP.
- Finally, AAHRPP’s Council of Accreditation will review the site visit report at one of its quarterly meetings, where they deliberate on the team’s findings and determine our accreditation status.
For more information visit AAHRPP