Colleagues,

I am delighted to inform you of the launch of ILRI’s Institutional Research Ethics Committee (IREC) and the process for ethical review and approval of research. As most of you know, the Committee has been operating at ILRI since 2013, although until now it has not officially been part of research compliance, while IREC was developing its modus operandi.  Ensuring that we adhere to proper ethical standards is critical to our operations.  Increasingly journals are seeking proof before publication that research has been carried out ethically and has been approved by properly constituted ethical committees, the countries in which we work are also starting to seek similar assurances and our donors expect us to adhere to internationally accepted ethical standards.

From now, all ILRI’s research project will be required to undergo ethics approval. This is in addition to the already required approvals through the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) for projects involving animals and biological agents. As such, ethics approval becomes part of research compliance at ILRI, which is managed by EOHS. As part of the roll-out plan, EOHS will be organizing a seminar on Tuesday 31 May at 11.00-12.30h in JVC in Nairobi and Jugol in Addis. The seminar will also be available by Webex (details will be shared soon)  to present research compliance in general and IREC in particular. It is important that all scientists and staff involved in project and program management attend this important seminar.

EOHS will also be in touch with program leaders, PMOs and scientist to ensure that all ILRI current and future projects undergo ethics approval. Kindly accord our colleagues your full cooperation.

Having an Institutional Research Ethics Committee contributes to making ILRI a modern research facility working under international best practice. IREC also represents a useful service to ILRI scientists in supporting research.

For any further queries relating to IREC, or research compliance in general, contact Josephat Otieno in EOHS (j.otieno@cgiar.org).

Watch a recording of the seminar

Iain A Wright | Deputy Director General – Integrated Sciences

International Livestock Research Institute | ilri.org