APLA approved for institutional review board

AIDS Project Los Angeles on Tuesday became the first AIDS service organization in Los Angeles to receive federal approval to establish its own independent Institutional Review Board, a move that will allow the agency to conduct socio-behavioral research without relying on other government or university review boards to approve research protocols. The review board will be charged with protecting the rights and welfare of human research subjects involved in all APLA research and also will be able to oversee research protocols for projects involving APLA staff, clients, or volunteers undertaken at other AIDS agencies and research centers. Trista Bingham of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services HIV Epidemiology Program will serve as the chairwoman of the 11-person board.