Q & A

The application form and detailed instructions can be downloaded from the Forms and Guidelines section and forwarded to the address in the Contact REB section.

Expedited reviews can take approximately three to four weeks. For full board reviews, you will get a response back from the REB approximately 1 week after the monthly meeting. You must submit the protocol two weeks prior to the REB meeting.

You may contact the REB Office by phone at 416-586-4875 (Bibi Hack) or by email: Bibi Hack at [email protected].

Some studies may be considered for delegated review. This applies to research which is considered either minimal-risk and non-invasive (e.g. retrospective chart reviews, questionnaires or surveys, non-invasive assessments, use of tissue), or studies involving only current standards of care.

A list of required documents can be found on the instruction sheets which are attached to the application forms. You can download these in the Forms and Guidelines section.

If the principal investigator is conducting the study at Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH) using MSH patients, the proposal must be submitted to the MSH REB. If the study involves another teaching hospital affiliated with UofT, then approval from that other site must also be sought.

You must still submit an application to the MSH REB, however, a discussion with the Research Ethics Board prior to submission is encouraged because these studies may be considered for expedited review.

If the study is to be carried out at UHN as well as MSH and you have received approval from MSH, submit the protocol and MSH correspondence to UHN. If UHN has already approved the protocol, submit the protocol and all UHN correspondence to MSH.

Fees for submitting to the MSH REB apply to all Industry-Sponsored and Investigator-Initiated studies funded by Industry. Fees are invoiced upon receipt of the submission to the REB Office.

The following fees are currently in place as of January 1, 2017:

• Initial REB submission/review: $3,500
• Renewals: $500
• Major Amendments: $500

The FWA number for Mount Sinai Hospital is FWA00000911.

For all study agreements, including Data Sharing Agreements, Material Transfer Agreements and Clinical Trial Agreements, please contact the Office of Technology Transfer & Industrial Liaison at 416-586-8246.

The position taken by our REB is that we do not allow researchers to simply contact potential participants with whom they have had no prior, relevant, clinical relationship. The reasons for this are issues of confidentiality and the protection of privacy, and, in some instances, the prevention of potential, unnecessary psychological harm to very vulnerable groups.

A: In the event that an investigator cannot determine whether an intended investigation constitutes research (for instance, quality assurance/improvement projects do not constitute research), the investigator should approach the Research Ethics Board office for a determination. For determinations related to quality assurance or quality improvement projects, please complete the Screening Determination Form and submit it to [email protected] for review.

For other inquiries, please contact the REB Office at 416-586-4875 or [email protected]. Providing such consultation on ethics matters is part of the responsibility of the Board.

For clinical trials or observational studies that are being conducted at a multiple sites, the Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO) Streamlined Research Ethics Review System (SRERS) allows a single, qualified Research Ethics Board (Board of Record) to oversee the review and conduct of studies occurring at multiple sites. Please see the Research Involving Multiple Sites page for further information.