-Special Report-

Nippon Medical School's Ethical Review Processes for Studies Involving Human Subjects

Toshiaki Otsuka^1,2 and Kotone Matsuyama^3,4

¹Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
²Center for Clinical Research, Nippon Medical School Hospital, Tokyo, Japan
³Department of Health Policy and Management, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
⁴Center for Strategic Research Initiative, Nippon Medical School Foundation, Tokyo, Japan

All life science and medical research involving human subjects must be conducted in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the relevant laws and guidelines. Additionally, its scientific and ethical suitability must be reviewed by a committee well versed in the nature and content of the research. Failure to comply with these requirements when conducting research involving human subjects is a serious violation of Japanese laws, guidelines, and local regulations, so several ethics committees and institutional review boards have been established within the Nippon Medical School (NMS) Foundation and its affiliated institutions. It is essential for investigators to keep up to date with the latest developments in the ethical review process and to ensure that any projects they propose to embark on are subjected to an appropriate ethical review before the research is initiated. To help researchers and other staff affiliated with the NMS Foundation keep abreast of these developments, this report outlines NMS's current ethical review processes for research involving human subjects.

J Nippon Med Sch 2024; 91: 136-139

Keywords
ethical guidelines, ethics committees, research subjects, specified clinical trials

Correspondence to
Toshiaki Otsuka, MD, PhD, Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Nippon Medical School, 1-1-5 Sendagi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8602, Japan
otsuka@nms.ac.jp

Received, November 1, 2023
Accepted, January 10, 2024