The mission of the Cherokee Nation Institutional Review Board (CN IRB) is to ensure the protection of the rights and welfare of tribal members involved in proposed research projects. The board is mandated to ensure that the research is for the benefit of the Cherokee people and will pose no unnecessary risks to the members involved and/or to the Cherokee Nation. The board has the authority to review research in accordance with all tribal, federal, and ethical guidelines, which is conducted by its staff or by external institutions on tribal citizens.

Conducting Research

All human/animal subject research conducted within the Cherokee reservation must be submitted to the CN IRB, regardless of funding source (or lack thereof), type of research, and/or tribal involvement. The CN IRB reviews all research projects to determine the status as excluded, exempt or eligible for review. Human subjects research is defined as:

Involving living individuals about whom “an investigator conducting research obtains data through intervention or interaction with the individual.”

OR

Contains “identifiable private information” (Title 45 CFR, Part 464.102.f)

OR

Includes a secondary analysis of existing datasets where participants are individually identifiable.