Research Involving External Organizations and Communities

PLEASE NOTE: All UAA researchers must have approval from the UAA IRB/ORIC before conducting any human subjects research activities, regardless of the status of other approvals from external oversight bodies. Even if approval has been obtained from an external IRB, such as the Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Area IRB or UAF IRB, you may not begin to distribute any recruitment materials, recruit participants, or collect (or receive) any data until UAA IRB/ORIC issues its final approval, or formalizes a reliance agreement with another federally recognized IRB. If you conduct research prior to receiving UAA IRB/ORIC approval, your project and/or funding may be suspended.

If you are planning to conduct research with an organization, agency, or community external to UAA, you must receive their permission according to their practices and policies, and in some case you may be required to submit a separate research application. Some of these organizations or agencies include the Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Native Tribal Health Consortium, Southcentral Foundation, Providence Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Medical Center, or the Anchorage School District. UAA IRB approval does not guarantee approval from another IRB, Tribal Council, organization, community, or any other type of research review committee.

If your work will require review by a federally recognized IRB besides UAA’s IRB, please contact the ORIC to discuss if it is suitable to establish a reliance agreement, whereby UAA may be able to formally rely on the external IRB and accept their approval of your research, or vice versa.

Research with Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Natives

All UAA research involving Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Native Tribes or organizations (or those of any indigenous population) must be performed in a culturally appropriate way, respectful of and consistent with the customs, traditions, and authority of the involved Tribe or organization. Many Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Native Tribes and organizations welcome collaborations with UAA researchers, but additional approvals are required.

Indian Health Service

Research with human participants conducted in Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities or with IHS staff or resources must be approved by an IHS IRB. This includes all research done in Tribal or Urban facilities that falls under the purview of the IHS.

If you are planning on conducting research that involves any materials, records, or employees from or in Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ IHS facilities, and/or if you plan on conducting research with an Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Native community or organization that requires you to obtain review and approval from the Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Area IRB, you will need to do the following:

  1. Contact the Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Area IRB at akaalaskaareaIRB@anthc.org or 907-729-3917, and request a Welcome Packet.
  2. You will need to submit a proposal to the Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Area IRB on IRBNet, which is the same online protocol management system used by the UAA IRB/ORIC. Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Area IRB review is completely separate from UAA IRB review.
  3. Depending on the proposed research, you may be required to submit to the Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Area IRB in addition to Tribal Councils, organizations, and specific communities.

The Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Native Medical Center, Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Native Tribal Health Corporation, Southcentral Foundation, and several regional health providers across Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ require review by the Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Area IRB.

Research with other Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Native Tribes, organizations, and communities

The State of Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Department of Natural Resources has created an to help match Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Native communities and their respective Corporations, and the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development has created the . These tools can assist you in finding the appropriate points of contact and local Tribal Authorities in communities where you seek to conduct research.

Anchorage School District

If you are planning on conducting research at any school or with any employee resources which fall under the Anchorage School District (ASD), you will need to do the following: 

  1. Submit an application to the UAA IRB for review via IRBNet.
  2. It is recommended you review the before applying for approval.
  3. If you are proposing to collect data, statistics, or reports from ASD, you will need to fill out ASD's  found on the  page.
  4. If you are proposing to conduct surveys, interviews, or any other type of interaction with teachers and/or students, you will need to fill out the  found on the 

These forms can be completed by the UAA-affiliated student, faculty, or staff member as long as the ASD-affiliated employee or employees are mentioned in the form. It has been ASD policy that surveys used for evaluation of events (classes or conferences) do not require pre-approval.

Providence Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Medical Center

If you are planning on conducting research at Providence Â鶹ÎÞÂë°æ Medical Center (PAMC) facilities, or with PAMC data, as part of your UAA research (e.g., Nursing or MPH thesis work), you will need to do the following:

  1. Contact Stacey Medeiros, Research Support Services Manager at Providence, at stacey.medeiros@providence.org or (907) 212-3629. You will need to coordinate with the Research Support Services Manager about obtaining IRB approval from one of the Providence system IRBs.
  2. Submit an application to the UAA IRB for review via IRBNet. Alternately, submit a request for UAA to rely on the Providence IRB's review. This request must also be submitted over IRBNet.
  3. Follow the required steps to receive approval from BOTH institutions.

You may not conduct research at Providence until you secure final approval or formal deferral from the UAA IRB and approval from a Providence IRB. Letters of support from Providence departments do not substitute UAA/Providence IRB approval.