In the recently concluded Philippine National Health Research System Week, the Food and Nutrition Research Institute Institutional Ethics Review Committee (FIERC) was awarded Level 3 Accreditation by the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (PHREB) effective until May 2019. The awarding was held in August 25, 2017 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay City.
The FIERC is the first research and development (R&D) institution given this recognition. For first time accreditation, a one-year provisional period is being granted by PHREB. The FIERC got the accreditation in May 2016 until May 2017, after fulfilling the requirements for Level 3 Accreditation,. This permitted the FIERC to review all types of researches including clinical studies required for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) registration of food, drugs and devices. FIERC shall also adhere with International Conference on Harmonization- Good Clinical Practice (ICH-GCP) and Good Research Practice (GRP) standards.
To ensure the sustainability of the accreditation, the FIERC continually complied to PHREB’s requirements such as updating of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and strict monitoring of protocols. Capacity building of FIERC members and DOST-FNRI researchers as well as management of the FIERC operations was continued by the FIERC Member Secretariat. The well-equipped and secured office space was also maintained. With all these in place, the FIERC once again fulfilled the PHREB requirements and was granted another two years of accreditation until May 2019.
Having achieved this milestone, the FIERC looks forward to expanding its membership and continually provide ethical clearance not only to DOSTFNRI research protocols but to studies outside of the Institute as well.
