Institutional Human Ethics Committee (IHEC)
Academics / Institutional Human Ethics Committee (IHEC)
Institutional Human Ethics Committee (IHEC):
The Institutional Human Ethics Committee (IHEC) of Chennai Fertility Centre and Research Institute (CFC&RI), Chennai, was established in the year 2020. Academic or investigator-iinitiated studies, clinical trials, or any other projects and studies that meet the federal definition of research with human subjects that come under the purview of Biomedical and health research will be reviewed by IHEC, CFC, and RI. The purpose of the IHEC, CFC, and RI is to safeguard the dignity, rights, safety, and well-being of research participants.
It is responsible for the scientific and ethical review of research proposals based on well-defined standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all functions. It should provide an independent, competent, and timely review of the ethics of proposed studies within the ethical norms laid down by the latest revisions of the Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical Research on Human Participants of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and other relevant national guidelines and laws before the commencement of a study and should regularly monitor the ongoing studies. In addition, it will ensure that all research it approves will also adhere to applicable central, state, and local laws and regulations. The IHEC takes care of all the cardinal principles of research ethics, viz., autonomy, beneficence, non-malfeasance, and justice, in the planning, conduct, and reporting of the proposed research.
It will be multidisciplinary and multisectoral in composition. The IHEC is a competent and independent committee functioning with a Chairperson and a minimum of 50% of its members who are nonaffiliated. Each member of the IHEC has a defined role and responsibility. It includes clinicians and clinical pharmacologists, a social scientist, a lawyer, an expert in ethics, a scientific member, and a layperson needed to represent a different point of view. The tenure of the Ethics Committee is for a period of three years. All members shall be appointed by the Chairman CFCRI in consultation with the Chairperson and Member Secretary by IHEC.
