Human Research Involving Henry Ford Health and Michigan State University
November 4, 2025
The MSU Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) and Henry Ford Health (HFH) Institutional Review Board (IRB) collaborate closely on human research protection requirements for studies that involve both HFH and MSU.
For MSU, it is important to note that the MSU HRPP policies and procedures apply to the human subject research activities conducted by employees of MSU (faculty and staff), by students of MSU, or by agents of MSU (i.e. individuals engaged by MSU to conduct human subject research on behalf of MSU). Individuals who engage in human research activities and who act on behalf of MSU, exercise institutional authority or responsibility, or perform institutionally (MSU) designated activities are subject to MSU HRPP policies and procedures, which includes the requirement to obtain MSU IRB review and approval, an MSU IRB exempt determination, or to submit an application to the MSU HRPP to request reliance upon an external (non-MSU) IRB. These requirements apply to studies that also engage HFH.
For human research studies that engage both Henry Ford Health and MSU, IRB submissions to both Henry Ford Health and MSU are typically required. For non-exempt research, Henry Ford Health and MSU may enter into a reliance agreement for one institution to rely upon the other institution for IRB review. In this case, an initial application is submitted to the institution serving as the reviewing IRB and an external IRB request is submitted to the institution serving as the relying IRB.
The only alternative to this process is when there is a Henry Ford Health employed Lead PI and no MSU collaborator on a federally funded study submitted through the HFH+MSU HS partnership. For those studies, the MSU HRPP review of the external IRB request (for MSU to rely on either Henry Ford Health or another institution) will be incorporated into the Henry Ford Health IRB Online System. A record will be created in the MSU IRB Online System that the Henry Ford Health employed Lead PI has access to, but the Henry Ford Health employed Lead PI is not required to submit through the MSU IRB Online System.
Henry Ford Health and MSU have created a reliance screening form for studies that involve Henry Ford Health and MSU to assist in determining the institution (e.g., Henry Ford Health, MSU, other institution) that may serve as the reviewing IRB. When the Lead PI is an MSU PI, completed screening forms are submitted to orrs.irbreliance@msu.edu. Once a determination has been made, notification and next steps are provided to the study team.
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