University Resources

Rationale

Research has long been an integral part of the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM) even before it became an autonomous unit of the University of the Philippines System in 1983. However, organized and structured research in UP Manila started with the creation of the Committee on Research Implementation and Development (CRID) in 1979 at the College of Medicine (UPCM) to manage a specific research grant from the China Medical Board (UPCMB). In recognition of its continuing role in the area of research in the UP College of Medicine and the Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH), CRID was upgraded in 2003 from a committee to an office, called the Research Implementation and Development Office (RIDO). It housed both the Technical and Ethical Review Boards of the UPCM and PGH.

In 1996, the Board of Regents (BOR) created various units to effectively perform the mandate of UP Manila as a center for excellence in health sciences education, research, and training. Among these is the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with its own Board of Advisers. The mission of the NIH is to be a major resource center for health research and capacity building. Subsequently, research institutes were established under the NIH. The UPM-NIH has its own Institutional Review Board composed of the Ethics and Technical Review Boards.

In 2006, the Expanded Hospital Research Office (EHRO) was created at the Philippine General Hospital to coordinate the conduct of research in the hospital. EHRO established its Ethics Review Board to facilitate the review of the significant number of research protocols submitted by fellows and residents, as well as nursing staff and research staff of PGH.

All the three Ethics Review Boards of the RIDO, NIH, and EHRO are registered with the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (PHREB) and have been surveyed and given recognition by the Forum for Ethics Review Committees in Asia and the Pacific (FERCAP). In addition, both the RIDO1 and NIH2 Ethics Review Boards are also registered with the Office of Human Research Protection (OHRP) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

In this setting, Chancellor Ramon L. Arcadio issued Administrative Order No. RLA-10-141 on September 27, 2010; creating the University of the Philippines Manila Research Ethics Board (UPMREB) that will unify and integrate all existing review committees under a single research ethics board for UP Manila. The establishment of the UPMREB will streamline and harmonize the process of ethics review in the University, an essential step in research. This strategic move will provide a strongly supportive and enabling environment for research. In addition, it will maximize the utilization of its human and institutional resources, and ensure that all types of protocols are reviewed in accordance with international and national requirements.

This document constitutes the formal statement of the UPMREB applicable to faculty, personnel, and students within the oversight of UPM research system. This is designed to provide an ethical framework and guidance to the conduct of this oversight, and anticipates the variety of situations that can occur in the conduct of research.