The primary mission of the IRB is to assure that, in research involving human subjects, the rights and welfare of the subjects are adequately protected. To achieve this mission, the IRB will assist the investigators in designing their research projects in a manner to minimize potential harm to human subjects, review all planned research involving human subjects prior to initiation of the research, approve research that meets established criteria for protection of human subjects, and monitor approved research to ascertain that human subjects are indeed protected.

In addition, the IRB exists to inform and assist Northwestern Health Sciences University and its researchers on ethical and procedural issues related to use of human subjects in research, to facilitate compliance with federal regulations, and to ensure continued support from federal agencies, private foundations, industry, and the University itself for research involving human subjects.

The IRB is authorized and organized to review any and all types of research in which human subjects are involved, including projects that are not subject to federal oversight.

The IRB employs a review process that conforms to the Federal Policy for Protection of Human Subjects and the Federal-Wide Assurance enacted between the Northwestern Health Sciences University and the National Institutes of Health Office for Protection from Research Risks. The review process will be the same for all research involving human subjects supported or otherwise subject to regulation by any federal department or agency, sponsored by any other extramural entity, or initiated and funded within the University. The authority conveyed to the IRB includes decisions to approve, disapprove, require modifications, monitor, suspend, and terminate research projects involving human subjects. Under no circumstance may a decision of the IRB to disapprove a project be reversed by another agency of Northwestern Health Sciences University. The IRB does not evaluate the scientific merit of the research; yet, the scientific merit is a factor in weighing the risks against benefits of the research.