Human Research Protection Program

COVID-19 Updates

Human Subject Research

Texas Tech University is committed to protecting the rights and welfare of individuals participating in research. Texas Tech's Institutional Review Board (IRB) is charged with reviewing all human subjects research in accordance with federal regulations, state laws, and local and University policies (TTU OP 74.09).

The Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) serves as a liaison to the IRB and point of contact for participants and researchers.

NOTICE: Human Subject Training Requirement

All research study personnel who engage with participants will need to complete human subject training prior to IRB approval and prior to conducting any human research-related activities. The new training requirement will be applied when an existing study is due for renewal, requires modification(s), or is chosen for a post approval monitoring.  

Human research-related activities include recruitment of participants, consenting of participants, data collection (anonymous or identifiable), gaining access to identifiable data, and/or conducting analysis of identifiable data. These training requirements will apply to all Principal Investigators, Co-Investigators, and research staff/students. This includes both individuals within the TTU system and external collaborators.

This requirement went into effect on January 1, 2023.  Click here for more information about the requirement and available trainings. 

Reviews during Winter Break

TTU IRB faculty reviewers will NOT conduct reviews when faculty are off-duty during the Winter Break.  Reviews will not be completed between December 18, 2023 - January 8, 2024.  If a review is needed during this time period contact the HRPP.