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The UW Institutional Review Board is the IRB of record for all UW agencies (e.g., schools, departments, programs, clinics, UW Medical Center, Harborview Medical Center), Seattle-King Country Department of Public Health, and the Puget Sound Blood Center.

To avoid duplication of effort, the UW has developed agreements whereby only one IRB review is necessary for collaborative research.  In almost all cases, the agreements are reciprocal; that is, the UW accepts another institution's IRB review and it accepts ours.

When funding comes through the UW, even when an agreement is in place and the research is solely at the collaborating institution, the UW IRB may need to review the research.

Institutions with which the UW IRB has cooperative agreements:

• Cancer Research And Biostatistics (CRAB)
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC)
• Group Health Cooperative (GHC)
• Seattle Children's
• Swedish Medical Center (Includes three campuses: First Hill, Ballard, and Providence)
• Virginia Mason Medical Center / Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (VMMC/BRI)
• The Washington State Institutional Review Board (WIRB)

Conditions and agreements are summarized in the related topics at right.

Researchers are encouraged to call the Human Subjects Division if there are questions about which institution is responsible for the review.