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The IRB Information Sheet wizard completion rate is slowly climbing! Thank you for your efforts in ensuring the investigator community is aware of and completes the wizard. As a reminder, all human research projects must complete this wizard. Projects under the oversight of an affiliate or external IRB are also expected to complete the IRB Information Sheet wizard.
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As of March 12, 2023, the active Project Cover Sheets completion rate remains at 80% with 15,881 completed wizards. We thank everyone for their dedication to this effort.
If you have questions regarding PCS, reference the VAIRRS FAQs or contact VAIRRS@va.gov.
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As of March 12, 2023, there are 957 active projects related to COVID-19 research taking place at 83 VA medical centers across the country. The projects submitted to VAIRRS can be easily tracked via our COVID-19 Research Dashboard. The COVID-19 Research Dashboard allows users to search studies by specific topic and/or location.
The COVID-19-related projects submitted to the VAIRRS platform support and advance VA's clinical and research missions, ultimately helping Veterans affected by the disease.
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The VAIRRS team is excited to present a brand new feature to VAIRRS University, a revised training library designed to promote self-education and independent learning. This month, VAIRRS University added the "Content Navigation" column that includes a breakdown of the research investigator and administrator's perspective recordings by topics and allows users to jump to a specific time in the presentation recording. Additionally, users can now navigate through the training energizers by topic and page number.
If you would like to learn more about VAIRRS University, the recording of the VAIRRS University walk-through webinar is available. The presentation is led by VAIRRS experts who dive into the details of the new training library.
If you have questions about VAIRRS University, please contact the VAIRRS Support Team at VAIRRS@va.gov.
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 Thank you to everyone who applied to be a mentor or mentee! The VAIRRS team will be reaching out to those who were selected for the first round of the Mentor Program within the next two weeks.
If you were not selected for this round, please know that you may be paired in the future. Mentor and mentee applications will remain open throughout 2023. You can access the mentor/mentee applications via the VAIRRS Mentor Program SharePoint page. If you have questions about the VAIRRS Mentor Program, please contact the VAIRRS Support Team at VAIRRS@va.gov.
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The VA Electronic Determination Aid (VAEDA) is available for all VA facilities. You can access VAEDA here.
Complete the quick, 3-step startup process to begin your first determination:
1) Open the tool in your browser and login with your VA PIV credentials
2) Confirm account details and create profile
3) Start your determination
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VAIRRS Experience:
The DC VAMC gradually began their transition to the VAIRRS platform in July 2020 with a 12-month plan to convert all active, pre-existing protocols into IRBNet. DC VAMC generated and published protocol history reports as board documents into the first IRBNet package. Additionally, DC VAMC generated note-to-files to link all paper-based administrative research regulatory files.
DC VAMC's research program initiated an extensive educational campaign two months prior to going live. The staff developed local instructional guides for all users and conducted bi-monthly trainings titled “The ABCs of IRBNet,” for the research community on the fundamentals of the IRBNet platform. DC VAMC offered re-education and constant reminders with supplementary webinars to inform researchers about utilizing added features in IRBNet and how to avoid common pitfalls (e.g., “New Package” vs. “New Protocol”).
Three years since the launch, DC VAMC's research community has embraced IRBNet. Administrators recognize IRBNet's complexity and education on use optimization is an ongoing endeavor. DC VAMC successfully utilized the reviewer comments section in submission details to effectively document and track training compliance. DC VAMC's goal is to take advantage of IRBNet's capabilities like insight reports to better inform administrative quality control efforts.
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 VAIRRS January Ambassador: Boston
VA Boston Healthcare System's Carole Palumbo says, "the benefits of VAIRRS are too numerous to list. So much has changed for the better. One thing specifically that VAIRRS has greatly facilitated is the ability of local sites to track and coordinate with large multisite/CIRB studies. We want to acknowledge how hard VAIRRS has been working to improve since it launched and it just keeps getting better."
VAIRRS July Ambassador: Madison VAMC
Madison VAMC's Aaron Heneghan says, "I have been impressed and grateful for the addition of IRBNet for research reviews here at the Madison VA. There was a lot of uncertainty and fear of the unknown as [we got] started up and running. At this point, I cannot envision administering a research program without this resource. We jumped in full throttle and have tracked all reviews and all training using IRBNet. How we tracked and maintained without this program is a wonder. We have really appreciated the support from ORD to provide clear guidance on implementation as well. The new COI module is a big win and a huge time saver as well. [The module] allows for review and acknowledgement (those without disclosures) in a much more timely manner and tracks with the projects. Likewise, I had a COI that I had to route to the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The routing, timing, process, and follow-up were nothing short of fantastic. Looking forward to many more additions to make administering the program just a little bit easier."
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Is your research office tracking administrative items (meeting minutes, informational topics, etc.) as projects in IRBNet?
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Meeting minutes should be captured using the IRBNet "Agenda and Minutes" feature. Minutes and other documents may be attached to an agenda by completing the following steps:
1.Save a .pdf copy of the meeting minutes
2.Select the appropriate agenda data using the agenda filter option.
3.Select the “Agenda, Minutes and other Administrative Documents for this Meeting” link at the bottom of the screen.
4.Select the “Attach documents to this agenda” link
5.Upload the .pdf copy of the meeting minutes
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LEARNING CORNER
ORPP&E is hosting a webinar next week!
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VAIRRS Webinar
Topic: VAIRRS Monthly Webinar Series: How to Properly Utilize the Research Admin Workspace in IRBNet
Date: Tuesday, March 28th, 2023
Time: 2:00 - 3:00 PM (EST)
Purpose: VAIRRS is launching a new data integrity series to the monthly webinar schedule. The first installment will focus on how researchers and administrators properly utilize the research admin workspace in IRBNet.
Lead Presenter: Angela Foster, ORPP&E Program Manager
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
*We suggest you log on using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
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IRBNet TOPICS
Action: You Spoke, We Listened
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Question 1: How can committee administrators organize submission documents to maintain document versioning?
Question 2: Does IRBNet require users to open PDF documents in Adobe Reader?
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Answer 1: Committee administrators can “force” document versioning, even if the submission documents are stored in separate packages. The document revision histories can be combined by dragging one document onto the “Document Revision History” icon of another with a similar document type. The IRBNet “Drag and Drop” feature is fully described in VAIRRS University Task Area 5 - Access Submission Manager Tool and Review Submission.
Answer 2: No. Depending on your local IT policies, you may have the ability to customize how PDF files are opened when using IRBNet (or any other website). Chrome, Edge and Firefox have built-in PDF viewers that allow you to conveniently open and read PDFs in your browser. See below for instructions on setting this feature in the major internet browsers.
Note: the in-browser PDF viewers do not support PDFs created using Adobe LiveCycle Designer (i.e., ERDSP). In those cases, the PDF can only be opened in Adobe Reader or Acrobat.
Chrome
To enable/disable the automatic PDF viewer in Chrome:
1. In a Chrome window, click on the icon with the three dots stacked on top of one another in the top, right-hand corner of the screen.
2. Select “Settings” from the drop-down.
3. Click on “Privacy and security” on the left side of the page, and then select “Site settings” from the table.
4. Scroll down to the “Content” section of the page and click on the “Additional content settings” drop-down.
5. Click on “PDF documents,” and then click on the switch on the right side to toggle between enabling and disabling the PDF viewer.
6. When the switch is blue, the Chrome PDF viewer will become disabled, and PDF documents will be opened in your system’s default PDF viewer instead. When the switch is grey, the Chrome PDF viewer will be enabled, and PDF documents will open in a browser tab.
Edge
To enable/disable this feature in Edge:
1. In an Edge window, click on the icon with the three dots in the top, right-hand corner of the screen.
2. Select “Settings” from the drop-down.
3. On the left menu, select “Cookies and site permissions”
4. Under the “All permissions” list, select “PDF documents," then click the switch to toggle between enabling and disabling the PDF viewer.
5. When the switch is blue, the Edge PDF viewer will become disabled, and PDFs will be opened in your system’s default PDF viewer. When the switch is gray, the Edge PDF viewer will be enabled, and PDF documents will open in a browser tab.
Firefox
To change the options available in Firefox:
1. In a Firefox window, click on the icon in the top, right-hand corner of the screen with three horizontal lines stacked on top of one another.
2. Select “Options” from the drop-down.
3. Scroll down to the “Applications” section of the page. Here, you may edit which application to open PDF documents in when browsing in Firefox.
4. Click on “Open in Firefox” (or whichever action is selected) to the right of “Portable Document Format (PDF)” in the table, and then select which action you would like to take upon opening a PDF document from the drop-down.
5. When you click on a PDF document in IRBNet, the option that you have designated via these settings will be automatically chosen as the “Open with” application in the dialog box that appears.
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IRBNet support is available at govsupport@irbnet.org for technical issues and questions related to IRBNet. For regulatory questions or questions about processes subject to regulatory guidance, visit the ORD FAQs page and use the search tools to find the answer. If you still need help, email VAIRRS@va.gov. The VAIRRS User Group Listserv is also available if you would like to reach out to other users. Email the VAIRRS team to be added to the listserv.
Training resources and the VAIRRS Toolkit are available on the VAIRRS SharePoint portal.
The VAIRRS Change Control Board meets monthly to review requested changes and potential new forms and letter templates. Please submit your suggestions through the VAIRRS SharePoint CCB Requests link (click here). Reminder: It is expected that all VAIRRS sites will use the standard library and supplement with local forms as necessary. The Project Cover Sheet and IRB Information Sheet wizards must be completed at the next study event as soon as possible.
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VAIRRS April Webinar
- IRB Information Sheet Updates
- 2023 VAIRRS Mentors/Mentees
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Thank you,
VAIRRS Support Team
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