RESADM-ers--

I have a different perspective on this issue--I think IRB meetings (and IACUC meetings, for that matter) should be open by default, closed only in cases where there is compelling reason to do so.

Full disclosure: UW-River Falls, where I staff both the IRB and IACUC, is a relatively small, primarily undergraduate, regional comprehensive--no med school, no clinical trials, no primates.  But we do have an ag school, so our IACUC has some real issues to grapple with.

Our IRB always invites the PI to attend the meeting where we will discuss his/her protocol.  We've found that hastens the procedures considerably; we can ask questions and check assumptions on the spot; frequently we can suggest modifications which the PI agrees to on the spot.  If PI weren't there, we'd have to do all that later without the possibility of a dialogue.  No one else has ever been interested in attending, but I doubt that we would exclude anyone.  And if anyone came with an objection to the protocol under consideration, I suspect we would want to hear it.

The purpose of IRB's and IACUC's, after all, is to make sure that humane and responsible procedures are being followed by having a group of responsible folks other than the PI review them.  Seems to me that keeping it all behind closed doors defeats the purpose somewhat.

Granted, there are certainly instances where the reasons to close a meeting are compelling--industrial secrets, maintaining the integrity of a broadbased or campus-wide procedure which requires deception, preserving anonymity of medical records, etc.  But those should be the exception rather than the rule.

Regards, Bill

Bill Campbell
Director, Grants & Research
University of Wisconsin-River Falls

======================================================================
 Instructions on how to use the RESADM-L Mailing List, including
 subscription information and a web-searchable archive, are available
 via our web site at http://www.hrinet.org (click on "Listserv Lists")
======================================================================