Institutional review boards: changing with the times?

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) are responsible for safeguarding the rights and welfare of human research subjects. This article describes the changes in the conduct of research and the increasing pressure to conduct more research. Some institutions have not ensured that their IRBs have kept pace with the changing complexity of the research scene. The article discusses the need for a system to protect human subjects that is just as sophisticated as the research enterprise itself. This is increasingly important to justify the public's trust in the research system.