Effective February 14, 2023, the Behavioural Research Ethics Board (BREB) has reduced its COVID safety requirements for conducting in-person research. While continuing to be concerned for the safety of research participants, the BREB will no longer require researchers to submit Safe Research Plans for in-person research, except in the following circumstances:
- Research with immunocompromised individuals
- Research taking place internationally
- Case-by-case high risk situations (researchers will be notified by the BREB)
Consultations in advance of submitting an ethics application are still required for all students who are planning to travel outside Canada for research or who are doing in-person research with immunocompromised populations. See full details at https://ethics.research.ubc.ca/behavioural-research-ethics/behavioural-research-covid-19-guidance.
The BREB expects that all researchers, including those conducting course-based research projects, will follow UBC’s Infectious Disease Framework and take precautions against infectious diseases. For more information about reducing infectious disease transmission, see UBC’s Infectious Disease Framework: https://riskmanagement.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2022/04/Communicable-Disease-Prevention-Framework.pdf.
Researchers may choose to maintain their Safe Research Plan within their BREB applications. If researchers would like to remove their Safe Research Plans from their BREB applications, they will need to submit a Post Approval Activity (PAA) – Amendment via RISe. They should state in the PAA coversheet that the study team will follow UBC’s Infectious Disease Framework and, therefore, are removing their Safe Research Plan.
If you have questions, please contact lisa.shearer@ubc.ca (Okanagan) or leah.meanwell@ubc.ca (Vancouver).