All research conducted within, on or for Northern Health (NH) must be reviewed and approved by the NH Research Review Committee.

The Research Review Committee is mandated by NH policy to approve, reject, propose modifications to or terminate any proposed or ongoing research involving humans that is conducted within NH, or by members of NH, in order to ensure that ethical principles and standards respecting the personal welfare and rights of research participants have been recognized and accommodated. The Committee is also directed to consider the impact of the research on the NH organization.

The Committee follows the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and the TCPS-2 Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. 

Applications to the Research Review Committee

Please refer to the Application Guidelines for important information regarding the completion of your application. The guidelines contain instructions for submitting your application as well as upcoming meeting dates and submission deadlines.  For information on the role of the Northern Health contact person, click here.

Applications affiliated with UNBC
 

If your research is affiliated with the University of Northern British Columbia, you can submit your completed UNBC Research Ethics Board Approval Form together with this Northern Health supplement.  You are required to submit your application to both UNBC and Northern Health (the application deadline is the same).  Visit the UNBC Office of Research at www.unbc.ca/research for information about their research services and Research Ethics Board.

Application affiliated with UBC
 

If you are a Northern Medical Program student or a Family Practice Resident who would like to conduct a research project in Northern Health, you are required to obtain approval from a UBC Research Ethics Board and also from the Northern Health Research Review Committee.  Apply to the UBC RISe system https://rise.ubc.ca/, selecting the UBC-Providence Research Ethics Board (all Northern BC Medical Student and Resident Research Projects will be reviewed by this Board).  Complete a Northern Health Supplement and submit the supplement, your research proposal, and a copy of the UBC Research Ethics Board approval certificate to ResearchCommittee@northernhealth.ca. 

Committee members:

• Betsy Cardell, QCI Health and Wellness Advisory Committee
• Kirsten Thomson, Regional Manager, Risk Management, NH
• Dr. Anne George, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UBC
• April Hughes, Health Services Administrator, NH
• Dr. Kuo-Hsing Kuo, Northern Medical Program
• Betty Morris, NE Chief Operating Officer, NH
• Dr. William Osei, Medical Health Officer, Northern Interior
• Les Smith, Director of Programming, Child Development Centre
• Stacey Gibbs, Manger Health & Addictions Services, NI Rural Programs 
• Pam Tobin, Project Lead, Northern Cancer Control Strategy

Non-voting members:

• Tanis Hampe, Regional Manager, Research and Evaluation
• Suzanne Johnston, VP Clinical Programs and Chief Nursing Officer
  Chair, NH Research Review Committee