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IN THIS IRB NEWSLETTER: Understanding the Policy on Privacy in Research: An interview with Alexis Goltra Request for Feedback: Drop-In hours and IRB 101/IRB Topics Husky Tip: Need NHSR Documentation for a Publication? Make Sure your Submission is Review-Ready Upcoming Events and Training | |
Understanding the Policy on Privacy in Research: An interview with Alexis Goltra We recently interviewed Alexis Goltra about Northeastern’s Policy on Privacy in Research (Policy 127) which was published in January 2026. As NU’s Chief Privacy Officer and Senior Privacy Attorney, Alexis Goltra is responsible for overseeing the university’s global privacy and data protection compliance program. In the interview, Alexis shares his expertise and draws on that experience to break down how Policy 127 helps researchers comply with global privacy laws and data protection requirements while offering practical guidance that is straightforward to implement in the research setting. | |
Request for Feedback: Drop-In hours and IRB 101/IRB Topics We’d love to hear from you about our educational offerings, so we put together a short 4-question survey to gather your feedback. Over the past year, we’ve hosted 185 drop-in hours and met with 400+ researchers during those sessions. As we continue to expand and improve these offerings, we’d love your feedback. Your input will help us better understand what topics, formats, and resources you would find most valuable during our Drop-In Hours and IRB 101/IRB Topics sessions moving forward. Find our short feedback survey here. As always, please be sure to visit our Calendar of Events for the most up-to-date educational offerings, including drop-in hours, as well as details on how to join each session. Please note that we will be switching from Zoom to Teams effective August 10th. The Teams link will be on the calendar. | |
Zoom Changes We understand that changes to Zoom may affect how some research teams conduct their studies. If your study procedures will change as a result of moving to a different platform, please note the following:
For any questions about the change beyond how to modify your IRB study, please submit an IT service ticket. If you have questions about the Zoom transition that are not related to how to submit a modification to your IRB study, please submit an IT Service Desk ticket. | |
Husky Tip: Need NHSR Documentation for a Publication? Occasionally, a journal may request documentation that an activity was determined Not Human Subjects Research (NHSR) at the time the work was conducted. This can be challenging if you self-determined that the activity did not require IRB oversight. If you find yourself in this situation, we recommend completing Human Subjects Research Determination Form. As you work through the form, it should become evident whether your project does or does not meet the regulatory definition of human subjects research. This is a self-determination form and does not need to be submitted to our office, In our experience, most journals accept a completed Human Subjects Research Determination Form as sufficient documentation if the activity did not require IRB oversight . Because the work was already conducted, the DHR/IRB cannot perform a retroactive IRB review or issue a retroactive determination. | |
Make Sure your Submission is Review-Ready Our practice is to conduct an administrative pre-review of all submissions before they are assigned for IRB review. Submissions that are not review-ready will be returned to the research team before the IRB review begins. This helps ensure reviewers receive complete, consistent applications and allows them to focus on the substantive ethical and regulatory aspects of the proposed research. How can you prepare a review-ready submission? You can also use AI tools to help identify missing materials or sections that are incomplete. See Leveraging AI for Easier IRB Submissions. Questions? | |
Upcoming Events and Training Our Summer schedule of IRB 101 and IRB Topics is now available, Summer is typically a lighter season for educational programming, but we look forward to expanding our offerings during the fall semester.. As always, please be sure to visit our Calendar of Events for the most up-to-date educational offerings, including drop-in hours, as well as details on how to join each session. | |
Suggestions or feedback? Complete our DHR Satisfaction Survey or email [email protected]! If you received this, you are already subscribed. To add others to the newsletter, please have them Subscribe. |