VIRBs Transition and RAMS-IRB Study Follow-up
| *VIRBs Transition and RAMS-IRB Study Follow-up* VIRBs Transition Results |
| Thank you for your patience and support as we transition to the new VIRBs system. VIRBs is scheduled to go live at 12pm today, 8/7. We were able to finalize most of our studies. This graph shows the mountain of applications processed by staff over the past six weeks (figure 1). Figure 1: |
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| We are migrating 96% of all protocols from RAMS IRB into VIRBs (figure 2). That is 2,814 individual studies. Figure 2: |
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| We know many of you submitted applications in the final weeks of RAMS IRB, and we want to ensure a smooth process for these remaining 4% studies. The good news is, we have a clear plan for you. |
| What happens to your study submission The short answer is: You will reload your submission documents into VIRBs after August 7, 2025. You will maintain read-only access to RAMS IRB, so you won’t lose any of your previous work. |
| How to reload your application In general, you’ll simply start a new application in VIRBs, complete a short smart-form, and re-upload your submission documents. Ancillary reviews that were already completed do not need to be redone, though you may need a new departmental approval. |
| Instructions for specific application types New study applications: Start a new application in VIRBs. You’ll be assigned a new HM#. To alert our staff, email [email protected] with the subject line “Study reloaded in VIRBs” and provide the PI name, old HM#, and new HM#. Complete a short smart-form, and re-upload your study documents, addressing any previous comments.Log a comment in the new application: “Study reloaded in VIRBs: Old HM#” Amendments: Your parent study will be automatically moved to VIRBs (HM# unchanged). Start a new modification application in VIRBs and add a note in the “summarize the modifications” section stating: “This modification/amendment was submitted but not finalized in RAMS IRB.”Complete a short smart-form, and re-upload your study documents, addressing any previous comments. Continuing reviews: Your study will transition to VIRBs if it has not expired. Resubmit your continuing review application in the new system and address any comments that were left in RAMS IRB. Reliance studies: If your application was not finalized, it did not transition. Reload your documents in VIRBs after August 7th. If you had completed “Step 1” in RAMS IRB, the study will quickly move to the “pending SIRB review” stage in VIRBs.If your application had pending comments, address them and reload the updated documents to VIRBs. |
| How to keep your original RAMS HM# We understand that changing your HM# can impact other systems. We are offering a one-time opportunity to revert your new HM# back to your original RAMS number. – To request this, email [email protected] by August 25, 2025. – Use the subject line: Revert HM#. – In the email, include both your new VIRBs HM# and the old RAMS IRB HM#. If you need any assistance in reloading your study in VIRBs, we are here to help. Research teams are welcome to join the research community open labs that are scheduled for the remainder of August. Refer to the New IRB review system: VIRBs (VCU IRB system) web page for the full open labs schedule. We hope this clarifies the process. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have further questions by emailing [email protected]. |
| HRPP Toolkit Document Updates All of the Toolkit documents have been updated as part of the VIRBs rollout. As of August 7, 2025, you can find the new forms on the HRPP Website and in the VIRBs library. The Toolkit changes are mostly administrative – such as changing references to VIRBs instead of RAMS-IRB. The following documents have additional changes: · HRP-502 – Revised to include “Considerations for NIH-Funded Research with Digital Health Technologies” · HRP-314 – Revised to remove the consent criteria details and redirect to HRP-314a · 314a – Revised to focus on the consent criteria, including adding “Considerations for NIH-Funded Research with Digital Health Technologies” · HRP-800 Series – The 800 series is associated with VCU’s reliance process. These documents have been updated to provide more details regarding the VCU reliance activities. Remember to always download the most up to date toolkit documents. If you have blank templates downloaded, update those files. Understanding that researchers may have applications in development using the older templates, there will be a short grace period for using the older forms. |