Translating Research into Highest Quality Patient Care

Office of Human Research Protection Programme (OHRPP)


Following the successful reaccreditation of the NHG Domain-Specific Review Boards (DSRBs) by the United States (US) Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Program (AAHRPP) in 2010, the Office of Human Research Protection Programme (OHRPP) was formally established under NHG Group Research comprising of the following 4 sub-divisions:

 

a)    Domain Specific Review Board (DSRB)
b)    Research Quality Management (RQM)
c)    Partnerships & Outreach (P & O)
d)    Research Education (RE)
 

OHRPP seeks to ensure the safety and well-being of human research participants, and to advocate their rights through:

 

•    Efficient and high quality ethics review
•    Quality assurance and continuous improvement
•    Education on human research protection
•    Engagement of public and research partners


a) Domain Specific Review Board

Since its inception in 2004, the NHG DSRB has been providing comprehensive ethics review of research protocols to protect the rights, safety and well-being of human subjects in NHG institutions and our partner institutions including KTPH and NUHS. The NHG DSRB comprises of a six domains - Domains A – E are Biomedical Domains based on broad but related disease groupings and Domain F focuses on Population Health. The NHG DSRB has been accredited by the US-based Association for Accreditation of Human Research Protection Program (AAHRPP) since 2007, a recognition for its high standards in human subject protection. Since July 2011, the NHG ethics application and review process has gone on-line with NHG ROAM – Research Online Administration & Management, with the aim to improve efficiency and reduce reliance on paper.

For more information about NHG DSRB click here.


b) Research Quality Management (RQM)

This unit provides quality assurance activities to ensure that research protocols approved by the DSRB are carried out ethically and in accordance with all applicable regulations, particularly the Singapore Guideline for Good Clinical Practice (SGGCP) and NHG Proper Conduct of Research (PCR)SOPs. The RQM unit also undertakes continuous improvement initiatives with the DSRB to ensure and continue high quality and efficient review of research applications.

For more information about RQM click here.

 

 

c) Partnerships & Outreach

This unit oversees the extension of ethics review services and oversight to external healthcare set-ups and agencies. Such research partnerships provide a common platform of ethics review and establish common standards of research conduct in the different institutions. The team also coordinates public education efforts to create a better-informed population on their participation in clinical trials or clinical research.


d) Research Education

This unit is responsible for developing training programs and implementing educational support initiatives for investigators, clinical research coordinators and other clinical research professionals. This unit also oversees the propagation of Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) culture and education within the research community.

 

If you wish to find out more about the training programmes offered by RE, click here.

 

Click here to find out more about the Clinical Research Coordinator Society (CRCS) and CRCS Forum.

 

Click here to find out more about Research Policies That You Must Know.