Institutional Review Board

Protecting Research Participants

Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC) is committed to ensuring that all human subject research in which it is engaged is conducted in accordance with the ethical principles set forth in the Belmont Report. The Belmont Report, published in 1979 by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, provides the ethical foundation for the federal regulations for the protection of human research subjects.  All FCCC faculty, staff, and personnel who are involved in the conduct and oversight of human subject research, within the course and scope of their duties, i.e. clinical and behavioral and social sciences investigations, whether in research, development, demonstration or other initiatives, regardless of the source of the funding, or in instances in which no funds are involved, will follow the principles of described in the Belmont Report.

The human subjects protection program at Fox Chase Cancer Center holds full accreditation from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP).  Participation is voluntary and involves a rigorous and thorough review of an institute's internal program for protecting patients who enroll in clinical research.

Fox Chase received re-accreditation, effective June 2007. The Center was among the first institutions in the United States to be accredited by AAHRPP in July 2004. Fox Chase was the first freestanding comprehensive cancer center and the first program in Pennsylvania to receive accreditation. More on Fox Chase's accreditation by AAHRPP.

For more information, please call the IRB office at 215-214-3754.