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Bylaws

  1. There shall be a Committee initially appointed by the AHFMR known as the Community Research Ethics Review Board of Alberta.

  2. The purpose of this Committee is to establish, develop and administer an ongoing program to provide access for ethics reviews of health research projects involving or impacting human subjects or communities. These are projects which, for whatever reason, have not obtained such review by a recognized public Research Ethics Board. 1

  3. The Committee shall act to:
    1. Review ethics issues in research involving human health to ensure that it is designed to be beneficial and will minimize risk to the residents of the Province of Alberta.
    2. Maintain ethical standards and guidelines for the conduct of health research and to contribute to the review of research proposals.
    3. Ensure that the research meets standards of acceptability in terms of ethical considerations and relevance [either theoretical or practical] to community health.
    4. Make decisions, based on ethical considerations, concerning proposals that come before the committee.

  4. The Committee shall develop a process of ethics review consistent with that laid out by the Tri-Council document entitled "Policy Statement for Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans".

  5. The Committee may collaborate with recognized public Research Ethics Boards in order to develop and/or provide a uniform standard of ethics review involving appropriate consultation on community health issues.

  6. Composition of the Committee
    1. The Committee shall be composed of not less than five members including a Chair, not all of whom are of the same gender.
    2. The Committee shall have at least one member who is:
      • knowledgeable in the discipline of ethics
      • a lawyer
      • clergy
      • from Alberta and outside regions 4 and 10
      • knowledgeable in human research methodologies
      • knowledgeable regarding medical terms and procedures.
    3. Only Committee members, including the chair, have voting privileges.
    4. The Committee may add non-voting members and retain consultants and advisors or appoint subcommittees as is necessary to assist it in conducting ethics reviews.
    5. The members will be appointed for two years with the exception that initially one half of the members will be appointed for one year. All members may serve two subsequent two year terms.
    6. The Committee may from time to time appoint one or more of its members or other persons to review any applications and to provide reports for the advice of the Committee.
    7. Subject always to the direction of the AHFMR or its successor and these guidelines, the Committee may conduct ethics review in such a manner and may adopt, use and vary such programs and forms as it sees fit.

  7. Committee Meetings
    1. The Committee shall meet as frequently as necessary to prevent delays in the review process but not less than two times annually. The dates of meetings of the Committee shall be appropriately announced.
    2. A minimum of three or one-half of the voting membership of the Committee shall constitute a quorum.
    3. A simple majority vote is required to pass a motion.
    4. The Committee shall be responsible for preparation of minutes of all meetings which shall clearly document decisions taken by the Committee.
    5. The decision-making process shall be guided by the principles set out by the Tri-Council document entitled "Policy Statement for Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans" and shall, where possible, be based on a consensus of Committee members. A majority vote will establish the Committee decision on any application.
    6. The Committee may approve, refuse to approve or require modification of any research proposal submitted to it.
    7. There shall be paid to the members of the Committee, both voting and non-voting, consultants and advisors retained by them, such fees for attendance and such reasonable traveling expenses as may be fixed by the governing body from time to time.
    8. Initially, all expenses incurred by the Committee shall be the responsibility of the AHFMR.

  8. The Committee shall produce an annual report to be sent to the sponsoring body.

1The Health Research Ethics Administration Board, the Conjoint Research Ethics Board of Calgary, the Alberta Cancer Board, the College of Physicians and Surgeons, or  the University of Lethbridge Board.