The Office of Research Integrity Assurance (ORIA) has migrated all existing IBC Protocols to the Topaz system, the same system already being used to process animal care and use protocols (IACUC).
To apply for Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) review, please submit a Biosafety Protocol application in the Topaz system. If you are unable to access the system, please contact the Office of Research Integrity Assurance (ORIA) IBC team for assistance.
The committee generally meets monthly to review protocol applications. We recommend that researchers submit protocol applications up to 3 months in advance of the expected project start date to allow enough time for the completion the multi-phase review process. Your registration must include the following:
1. Completed current Biological Risk Assessment for your lab
2. A statement of work or project description from each related grant application.
The application must be approved by the department head. ORIA will route the application to the department head for you in the TOPAZ system. When the department chair is the Principal Investigator (PI) named in the protocol, no other approval is required.
ORIA will provide a preliminary review and then route the application to the GT Biosafety Officer for their specialized review. If modifications are required, the PI should revise the protocol in accordance with the combined ORIA Biosafety Officer preliminary consultations and resubmit the revised protocol in Topaz for distribution to the full Institutional Biosafety Committee.
FAQ 1. Should the General Project Description of the protocol be written in lay terms?
Yes. Remember that the registrations are reviewed by a diverse committee with different areas of expertise (ranging from viruses, plants, bacteria, fungi, mammalian cells, and animals). The registration must be accessible to everyone on the panel.
FAQ 2. How should the General Project Description of the protocol by organized?
Please use headers to identify major classes of experiments. Then include a 1-2 sentence rationale/justification for each class of experiments using generally accessible language.
FAQ 3. Who can submit an IBC protocol?
While any member of the research group can draft an IBC protocol, the Principal Investigator (PI) of the project must be the one to submit the protocol for review. The same is true for all amendment and renewal submissions.