Page 13 - Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

ANNEXURE - F

NATIONAL RESEARCH ETHICS COMMITTEE (NREC)

Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) is the Secretariat for the
National Research Ethics Committee (NREC). According to BMRC Policy
each and every Project Proposal approved by the Scientific Review Committee
must get ethical approval before funding. Scientific validity should be
approved by a valid Scientific Review Committee before submission of a
research project to NREC.

The Ethics Review Committee of BMRC was established in 1979. The
Committee consists of 9-13 Members (Lawyer, Female Representative,
Religious Leader, Research Methodologist / Bio-statistician are obligatory as
member) including chairman and member secretary. The Committee is formed
by the Council under Guidelines for formation of Ethics Review Committee
for tenure of 3 Years. The NREC is multidisciplinary and multi-sectorial in
composition and an independent Body.

The Committee is registered in OHRP as an official IRB (lRB No. 0001494)
and has FWA (#00006444). Usually every year the Ethics Review Committee
evaluates around 100 Research Proposals. The Committee meets every month.
The Committee has given ethical approvals to investigators of numerous
International Agencies and Academic Institutions (e.g. WHO, UNICEF,
UNFPA, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Cambridge Universities, Intl.
NGOs etc.)

• The NREC provides approval for:

➢ BMRC Funded Research Projects (Internal/Intramural)

➢ Projects funded by Organizations (National and International) other than
BMRC (External/Extramural), including multicentric collaborative studies.

➢ Research studies leading to Postgraduate Degrees (Specifically PhDs).

• The Chairperson will conduct all meetings of the NREC. In absence of the
Chairperson, members of the NREC will elect a chairperson who will conduct the
meeting.

• The NREC will conduct meeting in every 2 (two) months. The agenda should not be
so loaded that sufficient time is not available for discussion. The frequency of
meetings may increase depending on the number of applications.

SOP OF BMRC ETHICAL GUIDELINE Page 12