Western Institutional Review Board

Western IRB is well-known and widely used for study review and approval. They deliver the highest quality and are compliant with all regulations. Their web-site has recently been revised and is easier in some respects to use compared to the previous one, although searching and project drill-down capabilities are still being improved upon. They have a through process that they follow for every project. that is necessary for initial proposals, yet gets in the way of a rapid review and decision on small edits. And despite the size of the edit, you are still charged the full amount of a review. That becomes very expensive for a multi-site trial when you find a typo and the protocol needs to be revised.

Strengths: Breadth of experience and capability. Recognized leader and good reputation.

Needs to improve: Long turnaround times and expensive, especially for minor edits.