Fixing IRBs without shortchanging research subjects

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are meant to protect research participants, but today their fragmented standards often create needless delays. In a new piece for the Institute for Progress, Ruxandra Teslo argues that this bureaucratic inertia isn’t inevitable. She makes the case for IRB reform by guaranteeing federally funded researchers the right to choose any compliant external IRB, creating a public registry of accredited boards, and establishing anonymous reporting to strengthen oversight. The result, she argues, would be faster, more consistent ethical review, that would protect participants while reducing administrative drag.