Important News from the Research Ethics Board

Thursday, November 7, 2019 - 2:15pm

REB application submission deadline for winter closure 

All REB applications submitted after December 6, 2019 will receive feedback from January 3, 2020 onwards. The REB does not review applications during the winter closure. 

 

Newly appointed REB Chair 

David Griffin (born Kingston, Jamaica) has been appointed the OCADU REB Chair from September 1, 2019 to August 31, 2021. Dr. Griffin has been a member of the OCADU REB since 2015. He is currently Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Art. Dr. Griffin holds a PhD from the Glasgow School of Art, an MFA from the Pratt Institute, and a BFA degree from Parsons School of Design.   

Dr. Griffin works with drawing and colour, seeking the right question. He has published his theoretical writing on diagrammatic drawing methods and music notation systems most recently in the MIT Press’ Leonardo Journal (2013), and the Intellect Press’ Drawing: research theory practice (2018), and has exhibited and presented his art and scholarship at the New School in New York, RMIT in Melbourne, Brighton University and Cambridge University in the UK, among other places. 

 

New REB members 

  • Dr. Lisa Goos has joined the OCADU as a community member. She is the Director of Clinical Research Services at The Hospital for Sick Children.  Dr. Goos received her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology from York University, and was a CIHR Postdoctoral Fellow in the Program in Neurosciences and Mental Health at The Hospital for Sick Children.  Her area of research specialization was the influence of epigenetic regulatory mechanisms on cognitive development and behaviour.  Dr. Goos has also worked and published extensively in the area of genetic communications, helping scientists and non-scientists engage in informed dialogue and decision-making on the basis of genetic information. An exceptional corporate change agent, Lisa has driven development in the strategic and functional capacity necessary to enable knowledge translation, and facilitated research integration with practice across healthcare, legal and academic settings.    

  • Huda Salha has joined the OCADU REB as a graduate student member. Salha is a candidate in Interdisciplinary Art Media and Design (MFA) at OCAD University. She holds a BFA Honors from York University, Toronto, a B.A. in English Literature, Gaza, in addition to two years in studio art at Athens School of Fine Arts. She is a Palestinian Canadian multidisciplinary artist. Her work explores the historical, cultural and psychological sense of place. She is interested in the way identity and memory are interwoven with place through political and cultural boundaries. Her artworks have been published in online galleries as well as several, magazines, newspapers, art books. Salha has received numerous awards, the most recent is a global award from Britain.  

 

Applications open for new REB members 

The OCADU REB seeks new members to address OCADU’s need for representation from various OCADU community groups. Membership is voluntary and requires time for doing reviews and attending meetings. We are conscious of the gap in Indigenous representation on our REB and are committed to addressing it. The following positions are open: 

  • Full member, Faculty of Art (multiple seats available) 

  • Full member, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences and School of Interdisciplinary (multiple seats available) 

  • Full or Ad Hoc member, Indigenous representative 

  • Undergraduate student member (1 seat available) 

More information about the membership criteria and position expectations are available here

 

New Procedures for OCADU Researchers and Instructors 

1. TCPS2 CORE certificate must be attached to all applications for research ethics approval 

  • All researchers acting under the auspices of OCAD University (OCAD U) who are applying for OCAD U Research Ethics Board approval must complete the Tri-Council Policy Statement:  Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Human Participants (TCPS2): Course on Research Ethics (CORE). Existing TCPS 2: CORE completion certificates must not be dated earlier than 2014. More information available here.  

2. New approach to course-based research ethics applications 

  • A layered approach to Course-based Research (CBR) Ethics Application requirements. More information available here

 

Policy Update: Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS 2) 

The Panel on Research Ethics has released the newly updated TCPS 2 (2018). The updated policy includes new guidance, topics moved from clinical trials (Chapter 11), clarifications, terminology changes, and corrections. The updated policy is accompanied by Highlights of changes: Summary of revisions in TCPS 2 (2018) and How to Address Material Incidental Findings

Some key updates include: 

  • new guidance on research involving communities; 

  • requiring ethics review for course-based research activities; 

  • clarification of institutional responsibilities in supporting researchers being legally compelled to disclose confidential participant information; 

  • clarification of ethics review requirement for pilot studies;  

  • clarification regarding exemption of research involving information that is publicly available through legislation or regulation or that is in the public domain; 

  • details on the management of material incidental findings in different circumstances; and 

  • distinguishing the role of the principal investigator in the context of multi-jurisdictional research. 

OCAD University researchers are encouraged to review the updated policy and accompanying documents.