Human Research Protections
The Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) is a function of the Office of Research at Pace University. The framework for the protection of human participants is set in Federal regulation and The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research of the U.S. National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. The Belmont Report establishes three ethical principles for conducting research with human subjects:
- Respect for Persons requires potential subjects to be treated as autonomous individuals capable of making an informed decision about whether or not to participate in research, and includes safeguards for those groups with less autonomy, such as children, prisoners, and adults with diminished capacity to consent.
- Beneficence requires that any risks to subjects are reasonable in relation to the benefits to subjects and to society at large from the knowledge to be gained by the research.
- Justice requires that the risks and benefits of the research be distributed fairly.
The Human Research Protection Program written plan consists of the “HRPP Policies and Procedures” document, including all referenced supporting materials. The written plan constitutes Pace University policy that applies to all Pace investigators, and not following the policy is considered noncompliance. Exceptions to these policies and procedures are permitted if consistent with applicable federal, state, and local requirements and if the IRB chairs (for IRB policies) or the HRPP Director (for other HRPP policies) approves the exception and documents the rationale in writing.
The current, approved version of the "HRPP Policies and Procedures" document is maintained on this Office of Research website and is available to sponsors, investigators, research staff, other members of the research community, IRB members, and research participants. For access to the "HRPP Policies and Procedures" document click on the links below: