The Research Ethics Board (REB) is a standing committee of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. The REB reports to the Board of Trustees through the Hospital Quality and Safety Committee. The Chair of the REB reports administratively to the Vice-President, People, strategy and performance. The Chair of the CHEO REB also represents the hospital at the regional council of University of Ottawa – affiliated hospitals (COREB).
The REB provides independent, multidisciplinary ethics review of research involving humans that is conducted by staff of the Hospital or Research Institute, and any research involving humans identified or recruited at or through CHEO and the CHEO Research Institute. It has the authority to approve, reject, request modifications to, or terminate any proposed or ongoing research. The primary purpose of the REB is to ensure that research under its purview meets the highest ethical and scientific standards. In carrying out its mandate, the REB is guided by the understanding that: 1) children, youth, and families are vulnerable populations that warrant special protections; and 2) obtaining a reliable answer to a scientific question is an outcome to be so valued that individual benefits can often be deferred or relinquished altogether. For these reasons, the standards that apply to research should often exceed those that apply to clinical care in which a practitioner is guided by his / her fiduciary responsibility to protect the best interest of the patient.
The REB adopts as minimal standards the ‘Tri-Council Guidelines on Research with Human Subjects’, the ‘Good Clinical Practice’ (International Conference on Harmonization – E6), and relevant provincial and federal legislation. Accordingly, the REB considers a number of factors in its review of research protocols including: social and scientific merit, the risks and benefits to participants, participant selection and recruitment, privacy and confidentiality, record keeping, and the consent and assent processes and documents.
The REB reviews:
• research involving humans conducted by staff of the Hospital or Research Institute; and/or
• research involving humans identified or recruited at or through the CHEO and the CHEO Research Institute.
Importantly, the first bullet indicates ‘conducted by’. This includes collaborating on a study which is defined as “The action of working with others to carry out a joint research project. For example, collaboration may include: participation in the provision of data, human biological materials or pathogens; participation in their collection or analysis; and participation in the interpretation of research results and related activities. The provision of technical advice or expertise, in itself, does not constitute collaboration.”
Staff is defined as all CHEO-OCTC employees, physicians, students and contract workers, whether they are full-time or part time; and indeterminate or term cross-appointed at a university or research institution.
This means that if a CHEO or CHEO RI staff is conducting/collaborating on a research project (independent of whether the study is recruiting at or through CHEO or the stream of review), the research requires review by the CHEO Research Ethics Board.
University of Ottawa and CHEO REB Affiliation Agreement
Agreement: The University of Ottawa and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario have entered into an agreement with respect to the ethical review of research conducted by University employees, academic staff, trainees, postdoctoral fellows and students (collectively “University Personnel”)
- Research conducted by University Personnel (“University Research”) at or through the Children’s Hospital and for which the interaction with human participants occurs only at the hospital and its affiliated sites, need only be reviewed by the CHEO REB. The University will conduct administrative reviews of these research protocols, as necessary.
- University Research conducted at or through the Hospital and for which recruitment with human participants (patients, families, staff or students) occurs either partly or completely at or through CHEO, must be reviewed and approved by both the CHEO REB and the appropriate University REB. The University review will typically be conducted through the delegated review process following CHEO REB approval. Submissions to both sites can be made concurrently.
United States Department of Health and Human Services – The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) Registration Numbers:
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Registration Number:
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario IRB#1
IRB00002747
Federal Wide Assurance (FWA) Numbers:
Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario
FWA00003131
OCREB (Ontario Cancer Research Ethics Board)
Affiliated site FWA Number: FWA00006304
University of Ottawa
FWA00003664
REB Annual Report
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