Conflict of Interest Review Board (CIRB)
Description
At UAB a specialized standing committee, called the Conflict of Interest Review Board (CIRB), has been established to review investigators’ 
financial disclosures; to determine whether a financial conflict of interest exists; and if needed, to institute an appropriate plan for managing, 
reducing, or eliminating the conflict. The CIRB was established in response to PHS/NIH requirements for Objectivity in Research, 
also known as financial conflict of interest review. UAB policy requires all investigators who participate in extramurally-funded research 
to disclose their relevant financial interests to the CIRB. This takes place whether the research is funded by a federal agency, a for-profit 
corporation, a foundation, or another internal or external source. 
 
The CIRB is composed of a cross-section of experienced research faculty who are highly qualified to interact with investigators 
regarding study design and methodology, data analysis, and other issues (such as professional practice norms) that may be pertinent 
to the design of an appropriate conflict management strategy for a research project. The majority of the CIRB’s members are from 
Medicine and the Joint Health Sciences, reflecting UAB’s areas of research emphasis, but CIRB membership has also included faculty 
from the Schools of Dentistry, Public Health, Engineering, Optometry, Business and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The current 
CIRB chairman is a full-time, senior, tenured faculty member in the Department of Pathology.
 
CIRB members are appointed by the Vice President for Research and usually serve for a period of three to five years on a rotating basis.
The committee currently meets monthly. The CIRB office is staffed by a full-time professional director, a full-time associate director, 
and two full time administrative support personnel.

The CIRB’s reporting path and office location facilitate communications with the Institutional Review Board, the UAB Research Foundation, the Office of Grants and Contracts Administration, and other units in Central Administration. Where indicated, the CIRB may coordinate its activities with those of deans and department chairs.

Management and Procedures

UAB's Conflict of Interest Guidelines (Research) (previously known as the Conflict of Interest Policy – distinct from the UAB Conflict of Interest Policy not relating to research) require all investigators to file original financial disclosure statements with grant and contract proposals. The original should be signed and dated in BLUE ink. An investigator is defined as anyone with responsibility for the design, conduct, or reporting of the extramurally-funded project. The principal investigator/program director and any other person who is responsible for the design, conduct, or reporting of the research are required to submit disclosure statements. Typically these individuals have doctoral or other professional degrees. Under most circumstances technical or administrative support staff and graduate students will not be required to submit disclosure forms. Staff or graduate students with intellectual property or with previously disclosed financial conflicts related to the research are exceptions and are expected to submit disclosure forms. Personnel involved in the informed consent process for human study participants must also disclose, independent of their degree status.

When a proposal is received in the CIRB without disclosures, it is listed as YES there is a conflict, by default, and it is subject to review by the Board. Proposals are held until the original signed disclosures are received.

For additional information and for the new Guidelines (Research), please visit: http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=30255

Approved by: Lesley Early, Director

Date: October 5, 2007

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