Certification for Institutional Review Board (IRB) Professionals

As part of our commitment to helping concerned professionals improve human subject protections, PRIM&R is proud to support the Certified IRB Professional (CIP®) program, a certification initiative for individuals working with institutional review boards (IRBs). The credential was developed to promote ethical research practices and programs by ensuring that those charged with their administration have demonstrated an advanced level of knowledge, understanding, and relevant competencies.

The CIP® program was created in 1999 after many years of discussion and planning by organizational members and leaders. The program was the result of a broadly based, grassroots effort by IRB professionals and policy makers who are committed to improving the quality of human research protection programs (HRPPs). Nearly a thousand individuals have become certified and are now entitled to use the designation of CIP®. PRIM&R is extremely pleased that this voluntary program has been so widely embraced by the HRPP community, and is especially proud to have given HRPP professionals an opportunity to advance and demonstrate their competence in such an important field.

The program is overseen by the Council for Certification of IRB Professionals (CCIP). Since its inception, the CCIP’s mission has been to develop a certification program that will be useful to all IRB/HRPP professionals. PRIM&R is grateful to the founders of the CIP® program, Gary Chadwick and Susan Kornetsky, and to the many other volunteers who have served on the CCIP with distinction and commitment. The current Council members are Susan Delano (chairperson), Moira Keane (vice chairperson), Lynn Bevan-Watson, Heather Butts, Gary Chadwick, Paul Goebel, Erica Heath, Greg Lim, Wanda Quezada, Kathy Schulz, and Dan Voss.

Why Become Certified?

The CIP® Credential...

• Promotes the ethical conduct of research by strengthening the professional administration of IRBs.
• Validates an individual’s professional experience and demonstrated mastery of the body of knowledge determined by national experts to be essential to competent IRB/HRPP administrative practices.
• Encourages personal growth and professional development.
• Provides an expanded array of career advancement opportunities.
• Strengthens the quality of HRPPs by certifying a cadre of committed and educated individuals.

Read more about the benefits of certification in this article, published by the Department of the Navy Human Research Protection Program. 

The CIP® program is administered under contract with the Professional Testing Corporation (PTC). The validity of individual test questions is authenticated by certified professionals, while PTC provides professional testing and management services. These services include assistance with test development, administration, scoring and statistical analysis, and processing candidate applications and fees. Questions regarding administration of the examination may be directed to PTC by e-mail or by phone at 212.356.0660.


Questions?
Please contact us via e-mail or telephone at 617.423.4112, ext. 10. Thank you!