NUS-IRB defines research as a systematic investigation, including research development, testing or evaluation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. Such activity may or may not differ in any significant way from customary medical or other professional practice. Educational exercises involving human participants that are not construed as "research" (e.g., class demonstrations and exercises that do not lead to publishable materials) do not require ethics review, unless otherwise required by the Faculty or Department Heads. The intent to publish is usually one criterion for a project to be considered research. Most reputable journals would require the research to be reviewed by the IRB before they will agree to publish the results of the research.

Human-based research studies that do not fall under the purview of the “Human Biomedical Research Act (HBRA)” will generally be categorised as "Social, Behavioural and Educational Research (SBER)". Please refer to NUS-IRB SBER Exemption Categories for a list of categories if you wish to apply for an exemption. 

The DERC will review all Duke-NUS faculty or student research involving human subjects when:

• they are construed as “research”;
• the research is excluded from the HBRA;
• the research is of minimal risk and qualifies for an Exemption;
• the research does not involve vulnerable populations and/or deception (see IRB-GUIDE-020 on use of deception in research), or sensitive topics;
• the research involves the use of lucky draws in lieu of reimbursement for participation in the study, where the conduct of the lucky draws or research fulfill the criteria as stated in the NUS-IRB’s guidelines for lucky draws; and
• the research does not involve any testing of a medical device or health product as defined in the Health Products Act.

Duke-NUS DERC will have the right to refer studies that they uncomfortable reviewing to NUS-IRB.

Please refer to NUS-IRB SBER Exemption Categories for a list of categories if you wish to apply for an exemption

Duke-NUS DERC operates under the auspices of NUS-IRB. Therefore, we can only review SBER studies from Duke-NUS faculty members and students. If you have an Adjunct appointment with Duke-NUS, please collaborate with a full time Duke-NUS staff member or Head of Department as the Co-I to assume administrative responsibilities. You may contact the Secretariat for further clarification before submission.

NUS has established a reputation for carrying out high quality research based on high standards of research honesty, integrity, and data reproducibility. Because Research Data is foundation to our research, we must ensure that they are well-managed and used appropriately.

As staff members of Duke-NUS you will need to ensure that the research data complies with NUS Research Data Management Policy (RDMP) and any other institution that you may be collaborating. Please carefully review the relevant institutional data management policy documents before submission.  

If the study falls under the purview of CIRB (e.g., study site is on Singhealth premises), you would likely require clearance from CIRB. It would be best that you contact CIRB for clarification to avoid any unnecessary complications.

If you require ethics clearance and CIRB does not consider your study as “research”, you may approach Duke-NUS DERC for review of your study provided you meet the criteria for review. Please also include supporting documents that your study will not be reviewed by CIRB.

If you are recruiting study participants through collaborators from Singhealth, please ensure that it complies with Singhealth’s corporate communication policies.

Yes, there is an agreement that CIRB will review studies that are conducted in collaboration with any SingHealth institution as part of multi-site study lead by a PI from Duke-NUS. Please review the CIRB review agreement FAQ for more details. Any queries on the review agreement should be directed to your respective IRB depending on your main affiliation.  

The Committee will consist of at least 5 members with representatives from the following:

• 2 domain-specific academic staff members
• 1 clinical faculty member
• 2 “others” (who may be laypersons, alumni or undergraduate/graduate students)

For the current term, the following are the members of the DERC.

Chairperson Asst Prof Jason Lee Wen Yau
Member Prof Fernando Bello
Member Clinical Prof Lalit Kumar Radha Krishna
Member Asst Prof Irene Lee
Member Dr Rukmini Dhara
Member Ms Zhu Anqi
Secretariat  Ms Rachel Choi Hui Yi