Department of Public Health
   
About Us

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) Committee and the IRB office ensure that all research and related activities such as evaluation, needs assessment, non-legally mandated surveillance and some QA/QI projects involving Los Angeles County Department of Public Health staff, facilities, and clients/patients are conducted in accordance with the highest scientific and ethical standards and applicable federal and state regulations. The Public Health IRB is part of a national system of IRBs (sometimes called “research ethics committees” or “human subjects protection programs”) required by the federal government for any institution or agency that receives federal funds for biomedical, public health or social scientific research. The basic requirements and standards for IRBs are established in the Code of Federal Regulations and are overseen and sometimes audited by three federal offices, but each local IRB functions independently to apply the federal minimum standards to its particular local context, often with additional state or county requirements. The IRB was established by action of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors in 1999.




 
Public Health has made reasonable efforts to provide accurate translation. However, no computerized translation is perfect and is not intended to replace traditional translation methods. If questions arise concerning the accuracy of the information, please refer to the English edition of the website, which is the official version.
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