Other Institutional Committees
Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBSC)
Academic research involving Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), Recombinant DNA materials (rDNA) and non-GE hazardous microorganisms need to constitute an Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBSC) with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) approval. IBSC is one of the key statutory bodies, operating directly from the premises of the institution and is responsible for proper implementation of Biosafety principles, rules, regulations and guidelines. More details about IBSC: https://ibkp.dbtindia.gov.in.
The IBSC at Ashoka University was established with the approval from DBT on 29th May, 2021. IBSC meetings at Ashoka are performed from time to time following the latest guidelines from DBT.
For any information related to the Biosafety Committee of Ashoka, please drop an email at: ibsc@ashoka.edu.in
Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC)
Research involving human clinical samples and data come under the purview of Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) which functions based on the guidelines of ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research; https://naitik.gov.in/DHR/Homepage). It is mandatory that all proposals on biomedical research involving human participants should be cleared by an appropriately constituted Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC), also referred to as Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), to safeguard the welfare and the rights of the participants. The basic responsibility of an Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) is to ensure a competent review of all ethical aspects of the project proposals received by it in an objective manner. IECs provide advice to the researchers on all aspects of the welfare and safety of the research participants after ensuring the scientific soundness of the proposed research through appropriate Scientific Review Committee. The scientific evaluation ensures technical appropriateness of the proposed study and the IECs specify in writing the authority under which the Committee is established. The responsibilities of an IEC can be defined as follows:
- To protect the dignity, rights and well-being of the potential research participants.
- To ensure that universal ethical values and international scientific standards are maintained while also taking care of local values and customs and local health care requirements.
The Ashoka University Human Research Ethics Committee (AUHREC) was established on 28th June, 2021 following the latest guidelines from ICMR.
For any information related to Human Ethics Committee of Ashoka, please drop an email at: auhrec@ashoka.edu.in
Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC)
Experiments involving animals come under the purview of the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC) which functions based on the guidelines of CPCSEA (Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals, http://cpcsea.nic.in). Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC) provides approval and guidelines for public participation in the regulation of animal research. IAEC is responsible for approving and monitoring research within Animal Research Establishments, including carrying out inspections of animals and facilities. No animal research should be carried out without IAEC approval. IAECs consider and evaluate research applications on the basis of research questions, justification for the research, impact on the animals, and procedures for preventing or alleviating pain and distress.
An Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC) has been constituted at Ashoka University on 15th April, 2022 to approve any research on live wild or domestic animals (non-experimental animals), including the collection of voucher specimen and handling of the animal by immobilization for tissue sample collection and radio telemetry. Any work with experimental animals such as rodents, rabbits, primates etc. would require approval from a separate Animal Ethics Committee to be set up as per the CPCSEA guidelines of Government of India.
For any information related to Animal Ethics Committee of Ashoka, please drop an email at: iaec@ashoka.edu.in
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
The Ashoka University Institutional Review Board (IRB) is responsible for ensuring that research involving human participants is conducted in accordance with globally recognized standards of research ethics and principles. Research involving human or animal subjects that involve medical, clinical or biological material does not come under the ambit of IRB and should be addressed to the Human Ethics Committee and BioSafety Committee of Ashoka University.
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