IBC Meetings

Meeting Dates and Submission Deadlines

IBC meetings are open to the public. If you are interested in attending an IBC meeting, please contact IBC@bu.edu.

Submission Deadline	Meeting Date
October 24, 2023	November 14, 2023
November 21, 2023	December 12, 2023
January 5, 2024	January 23, 2024
January 23, 2024	February 13, 2024
February 27, 2024	March 19, 2024
April 2, 2024	April 23, 2024
April 30, 2024	May 21, 2024
May 28, 2024	June 18, 2024
June 25, 2024	July 16, 2024
July 30, 2024	August 20, 2024
August 27, 2024	September 17, 2024
October 1, 2024	October 22, 2024
October 29, 2024	November 19, 2024
November 19, 2024	December 10, 2024

*Applications must be received before the submission deadline to allow time for a detailed and complete review.

**Meetings may be cancelled if too few applications are submitted in a given month. If too many applications are submitted, those received latest will be reviewed at the next scheduled meeting.

Review Process

What does IBC review?

Recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecule research for conformity with the NIH Guidlines
Potential risk to the environment and public health
Containment levels per NIH Guidlines
Adequacy of facilities, procedures, practices, and training and expertise of personnel
Adverse event report

Note:

BU considers Human Cell Lines to be BSL-2
E.coli K-12 strains are BSL-1 and as such do not require IBC approval
Because the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) requires registration of BSL-1 rDNA projects, rDNA studies designated BSL-1 and considered “exempt” by the NIH Guidelines must be reviewed and approved by the IBCInstitutional Biosafety Committee The IBC is an instituti...

Research involving the following may require additional requirements

Select Agents
Biological Agents with Potential to Cause Laboratory Acquired Infection (LAI)

Protocol Review Outcomes

Work may commence immediately upon full approval of a protocol. Approval is valid for the study as described in the protocol form for a period of three years from the approval date. PI’s must also complete an annual renewal each year.

The Boston Public Health Commission requires notification upon IBC approval of any new BSL-3 project at least 30 days before initiating any project experimentation activity requiring the IBC’s approval.

Review Outcome	Review Criteria	Corrective Response Required	Person(s) to Review Response
Approved	Complies with all Committee policies. No additional changes needed.	None	N/A
Conditionally approved	Minor changes and/or clarifications (scientific or administrative)are required	Revised protocol submission	Primary and secondary reviewers (if reviewers have asked for it); otherwise IBC office
Deferred	Numerous and/or major changes or clarifications are required; there is insufficient time at the IBC meeting to conduct a thorough review	Entirely re-written or none (if time is the concern)	Full Committee
Withhold Approval	If application fails to meet one or more criteria used by the IBC for approval of research	Must re-do as new protocol submission	Full Committee

New Applications

Complete all IBC applications online in the Research Information Management System (RIMS).

Principal Investigators (PIs) must complete a RIMS PI Account Registration in order to access the IBC application. The PI can designate others to assist in completing the application, however, only the PI can submit the application. IBC requires that all PIs be members of the BU/BMC faculty. Projects from postdoctoral scholars or other non-faculty members will require a faculty PI sponsor.

PIs seeking IBC approval for the first time also need to submit a NIH biosketch with their application. Please see this example biosketch for reference.

All personnel must complete the Lab Safety Training(s) and ROHP Clearance requirements. Additionally, PI must complete “Recombinant DNA / IBC Policies Training.” Other training will be required based on the nature of project. Personnel will need to have a RIMS Training Profile in order to complete these requirements.

All applications must be received by the deadline to allow time for review by the committee members and a Biological Use Authorization Site Assessment by EHS. Upcoming deadlines can be found under Meeting Dates & Deadlines. Each application will be assigned to a primary reviewer and a secondary reviewer. Reviewer comments will be discussed at a convened IBC meeting.

IBC approval of recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules and biohazardous research projects is effective for three years. However, PIs must complete an IBC Annual Renewal each year for up to three years after the initial approval to continue work. After three years, the application must be resubmitted and reviewed by the committee.

Three-year Renewals

General IBC Three-Year Resubmission Instructions

After three years, the application must be resubmitted and reviewed by the committee.

For all expiring IBC Protocols, complete a Three-Year Resubmission in RIMS and click “confirm the submission” to send it to the IBC Office for review.
Make sure the PI and all lab staff complete the annual EHS Lab Safety Training requirement , the annual Research Occupational Health Program (ROHP) clearance update (contact ROHP at ; 617-414-7647), and any other applicable training requirements.
The IBC Office will notify you when your Three Year Resubmission has been processed and approved.

De novo IBC Approval is required for the continuation of the work beyond the previous protocol expiration date.

Instructions for the Three-Year Resubmission in RIMS

Log in to RIMS.
Under Activities and Authorizations in the left menu, click on Biological Use Authorization – IBC Application.
Click on the blue-underlined Project Title of your IBC Protocol due for three-year resubmission.
In the left menu, click the blue links in sequence up to the Grant Funding Information page.
Check the radio button for Three-Year Resubmission.
- Note: Make sure any old amendments listed in the amendment summary box are deleted, as the entire project should be described in completion and is subject to de novo review.
On the bottom of the Grant Funding Information page, click Save Changes.
Click to the Dual Use Research of Concern page to review the questions and confirm your answers. If you make any changes, click on Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
Click on all other pages to review the questions and confirm your answers. Update any of these application pages/sections with the relevant information regarding your IBC protocol, describing procedures as if you were seeking the original IBC approval.
After all updates are complete and saved, select Confirm the Submission to send the Three-Year Resubmission to the IBC Office.

Updates to Lab Personnel

On the Personnel page, delete and add personnel as appropriate.

To delete a person

Select that person by clicking the “+” next to their name in the table at the top of the page.
Click the “Delete” button at the bottom of the page to remove them from the protocol.

To add a person

Click the “Add Personnel” button at the bottom of the page.
Complete questions on training and experience.
If a person has been entered into the PI Profile when you first log in to RIMS (highly recommended), you may click the “Select personnel from your PI list” button to add that person.

Updates to Laboratory Space

On the Research Laboratory Facility Information page, delete and add research spaces as appropriate, including all facilities used for the project.

To delete a location

Select the location by clicking the “+” next to its name in the table at the top of the page.
Click the “Delete” button at the bottom of the page to remove it from the protocol.

To add a location

Click the “Add Research Laboratory Location” at the bottom of the page.
Complete all subsequent questions.
Be sure to update the Biological Safety Cabinet information/certification on the Personal Protective Equipment/Safety Equipment page, if applicable.

Updates to Experimental Agents, Vectors, and Procedures

On the Research Project Description page:

Review the details of your experiments, with special focus on the second question (regarding lab procedures).
Make sure this reflects a complete description of your biohazardous and recombinant DNA work.
Make any other edits or changes within your project description, as appropriate.

Update changes in...

Biohazardous agents on the Hazardous Biological Agent page
rDNA host-vector-donor components on the Recombinant DNA page
Human and NHP materials on the Potentially Infectious Material page
Details of any other changes should be updated on the other relevant pages

Annual Renewals

Amendments

IBC Meeting Minutes

Minutes

Minutes from the BU Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) meetings are provided below.

2023

2022

2021

2020

Archived Minutes

For minutes from 2019 or earlier, please contact the Safety & Quality Assurance Program staff at ibc@bu.edu.

Printing and Saving IBC Approval Letters

Log in to your RIMS Account.
Click ‘Biological Use Authorization’ on the middle-left of your screen. A list of all your IBC protocols will appear on the next screen.
The sixth column in the list is the source of documents for your specific IBC protocol. Clicking any of those links will generate a pdf file of the document (example shown below).
You cannot download a pdf of an application that you have modified and saved but not submitted in RIMS yet. You may click the title of the protocol in the second column and go to individual pages of your unsubmitted protocol.