The Human Subject Research Ethics Committee/Institution Review Board (HSREC/IRB) of Academia Sinica was recently certified by an international review body as meeting one of the highest standards of ethical review in clinical research. Academician Chien-Jen Chen, who is also the chairman of the EC/IRB, received the certificate on behalf of the board at the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific (FERCAP) in Thailand on November 25. 

The certification was awarded by the Strategic Initiative for Developing Capacity in Ethical Review (SIDCER), a World Health Organization (WHO) Special Training and Research Programme in Tropical Diseases (TDR) initiative. The objective of SIDCER is to contribute to protecting human subjects globally by developing local capacity for the ethical review of research involving human subjects and for developing policies on the ethics of health research. Its certificate is granted to ethics committees from around the world based on five criteria including the organization, structure and completeness of the review process. 

A total of 53 ethics committees from eight countries have been certified by the SIDCER to date. This year, 14 institutional ethics committees were certified by the Review at the FERCAP, four of which were from Taiwan. 

FERCAP, launched in 2000, is an annual regional forum arranged under the umbrella of SIDCER. The forum represents 29 countries, including Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. Taiwan has been among the most active members since it joined the forum in 2002. 

Institutional review boards or ethics committees exist in research and academic institutions to approve, monitor, and review biomedical and behavioral research involving humans with the aim to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects. Academia Sinica established its HSREC/IRB in 2004 according to the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. 

In addition to being an Academician, Chien-Jen Chen is also a distinguished research fellow at the Genomic Research Center.