IRB chair named

A new chair was recently named for MSU's Social Science/ Behavior/ Education IRB (SIRB). Gail Dummer joins Ashir Kumar in leading MSU's institutional review boards (IRBs) to administer the human research protection program.

Dummer became chair of the SIRB in May. She recently retired as a professor in the Department of Kinesiology where her teaching, outreach, and research involved physical activity and sports for persons with disabilities. She directed the Sports Skills Program for undergraduate students to provide teaching and coaching in selected sports skills to persons with disabilities. She earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota.

Kumar, professor emeritus of pediatrics and human development, chairs the Biological and Health IRB (BIRB) and the Community Research IRB (CRIRB). He earned M.B., B.S., and M.D. degrees at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi and completed pediatrics residency training and an infectious diseases fellowship at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) Hospitals in Cleveland. While on the CWRU faculty he directed the pediatric infectious diseases program at St. Luke's Hospital. After moving to Michigan State University in 1983 he provided patient care as an infectious disease consultant for the mid-Michigan area and served as director of pediatric education programs for the College of Human Medicine. He published more than one hundred research papers, review articles, and book chapters on infectious diseases, pediatrics, and medical education. He was a member of the University Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects (UCRIHS) from 1987 to 2000 and its chair from 2000 to 2003.

MSU's IRBs are established to protect the rights, welfare, and privacy of human subjects who participate in research conducted by MSU students or faculty. Applications submitted to SIRB typically encompass social, behavioral, and educational research and are considered medically noninvasive. The BIRB reviews projects in medical, biological, and health research. CRIRB reviews projects that will be performed at two or more sites and projects that require expertise in community-based research. Each participating institution accepts CRIRB approval for research to be conducted at its location.