Office of the Institutional Review Board

Supports the IRBs operated by UT Health San Antonio.

The Office of the Institutional Review Board (OIRB) is an administrative support office for the UT Health San Antonio Institutional Review Boards (IRBs). An IRB is a federally-mandated committee that serves to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects. The IRB reviews all research projects conducted by agents of UT Health San Antonio that involve humans, identifiable data about or biospecimens from living humans prior to the commencement of the research study. The UT Health San Antonio IRBs are accredited by the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP). 

Services the OIRB provides to researchers include:

• Assistance with IRB application submissions (including amendments and annual continuing review reports);
• Guidance regarding FDA regulations and research involving FDA-regulated test articles;
• Assistance with appropriate reporting of unexpected issues that arise during the execution of human research studies.

Services the IRB Reliance Team provides to researchers include:

• Adding Relying Sites when using the UT Health San Antonio IRB as a single IRB for a multicenter study
• Applications for single IRB review when the UT Health SA IRB is not the IRB for all study sites (External IRB Studies);
• Assistance with training research personnel;
• Verifying credentialing;
• Approving Research Scope of Practice for study team members who do not have a locally recognized medical license;
• Research participant recruitment assistance via the Find A Study website;
• Assistance with VA Human Research studies

Office Staff

OIRB	IRB Reliance Team
Jeannette M. Watterson, PhD  Director, Institutional Review Board  Watterson@uthscsa.edu | (210) 567-8205	Brandie Otten   IRB Associate Director  Otten@uthscsa.edu | (210) 567-8251
Stephanie C. Reyes, BA, CIP  Institutional Regulatory Reviewer  ReyesS@uthscsa.edu | (210) 450-8315	Patricia Alexander Research Compliance Coordinator – Sr  AlexanderP@uthscsa.edu | (210) 567-8256
Rebecca Rivera, BS, MS  Research Compliance Coordinator - Sr  RiveraR4@uthscsa.edu | (210) 567-8248	Alyssa Hernandez  Research Compliance Coordinator - Sr HernandezA51@uthscsa.edu | (210) 567-8254
Cecilia A. Hinojosa  Research Compliance Coordinator - Sr  HinojosaCA@uthscsa.edu | (210) 567-8246	Stephen Blake Luis Research Compliance Specialist LuisS@uthscsa.edu | (210) 567-8553
Celia Aviles, BS, MPH, CCRC Research Compliance Coordinator - Sr Aviles@uthscsa.edu | (210) 562-6827	Bhumi Patel Research Compliance Specialist PatelB6@uthscsa.edu | (210) 567-8259
Maria Herrera, MSW Research Compliance Coordinator HerreraM13@uthscsa.edu | (210) 450-7314