All board meetings are held virtually, once per month, Mondays from 4-6 pm.
Your duties as a board member are:
- Protect the rights, safety, and welfare of individuals who volunteer themselves, their time and/or their data as a research participant.
- Review relevant materials submitted for each item under review or consideration by the REB. If you're assigned a review, come to the meeting ready to present your comments to the board.
- Review minimal risk research on a delegated basis (outside of board meetings).
- Complete training or attend REB training sessions as made available.
- Be comfortable presenting your reviews to the board.
- Commit for a 3-year term.
Interested in volunteering? Please get in touch with the Research Ethics Office for more information and a brief summary about you if you match the membership criteria below.
We are looking for:
Members with medical expertise
The Nova Scotia Health Research Ethics Board is looking for new members with significant expertise in medicine practiced in Canada (i.e. physicians, dentists, pharmacists in good standing with their professional associations or medical residents) to fulfill the role as medical members. The role of medical members is to primarily review clinical trials from scientific and medical care aspects of the research as it relates to standard of care practice in Canada. It is expected that medical members are knowledgeable in basic aspects of research.
Members with proven knowledge in Canadian law
The Nova Scotia Health Research Ethics Board is looking for new members with knowledge and expertise in relevant law (privacy, health) to fulfill the role of legal members. The role of legal members is to ensure that the applicable laws are applied to the research and that research participants are not unfairly burdened or that companies do not limit their liability. Legal members are not expected to understand the science behind the research.
Members who can advocate or review from the perspective of research participants
The Nova Scotia Health Research Ethics Board is looking for members not affiliated with the health systems who would feel comfortable reviewing and learning about research and clinical trials in Nova Scotia. The role is to review board application from the perspective of a research participant - meaning to ensure that the materials presented to research participants are at an appropriate language level for the demographic, that there isn't any undue influence, that communities are being engaged and respected, that honorariums are commensurate with the work involved, and any other perspective given the context of the proposed research. You are not expected to understand the science behind the research.
