The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is an administrative body established to Promote research among the Students & Facultyand to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects recruited to participate in research activities conducted under the auspices of Vishnu Dental College.
It comprises of 3 committees, Institutional Research Committee (IRC), Institutional Ethical Committee (IEC) and Institutional Grants Committee (IGC) headed by The Principal, Vishnu Dental College.
INSTITUTIONALRESEARCH COMMITTEE:
The Research Committee represents the research interests and activities of Vishnu Dental College. It aims to Cultivate, Design, and Execute high-quality multidisciplinary research in VDC.
The policy includes initiation, facilitation, integration, and support of research projects conducted by Undergraduate, Postgraduate students and Faculty of VDC. The Research Committee provides a mechanism for these research groups to interact within Vishnu Dental College, with external collaborating individuals and organisations. The Research Committee is the responsible body for managing this interaction.
The Research Committee offers timely and complete critical appraisal and technical guidance to the submitted research proposals. The review of the submitted research proposals is an in-house exercise, where an attempt is made to assess its feasibility, to improve relevance to the regional context, technical quality and ethical aspects of proposed research. The research committee encourages Good ResearchPractice and Good Authorship Practices at Vishnu Dental College.
What makes research at VDC distinctive?
- Multidisciplinary research – an essential driver for innovation: Situated in a 66 acre campus with Engineering and Pharmacy Colleges, allowing students to focus on multidisciplinary research, combining many academic approaches, fields or methods, with access to various equipment and resources.
Composition of Research Committee
Head – Research Committee
- Dr. Ravikanth Manyam, Professor, Dept. of Oral Pathology
Advisor: Dr. Satyanarayanan. N, Professor
- Dr. Gautami S Penmetsa, Professor, Dept. of Periodontia
- Dr. M. Satyanarayana Raju, Associate Professor, Dept of Prosthodontics
- Dr. Praveen G, Reader, Dept. of Public Health Dentistry
- DR. Rama Krishna Alla, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Dental Materials
- Dr. Arun Bhupathi, Assistant Professor
- Dr. K. Sri Roja Ramya, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Pedodontia
- Dr. R. Chaitanya, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Prosthodontia
- Dr. K. Roja Vara Lakshmi, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Oral Medicine
- Dr. G. V. Durga Harsha, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Orthodontia
The Research Committee (RC) conducts periodic workshops on research methodology to empower students and faculty on relevance, technical qualityand ethical aspect of the research.
The Research Committee with all the Head of the departments, who were professionally trained in qualitative and quantitative research methods and also on ethical issues of research, as members and Principal of the institute as Chairperson scrutinizes the research proposals from students and faculty and gives approval after which the proposal will be forwarded to Ethical committee.
Meeting of Research Committee: The Research committee meets quarterly, on the 3rd Wednesday, from 2.15 PM to 4.30 PM in Seminar Hall, Dept of Prosthodontia, unless otherwise noted. The minutes of the meetings are recorded.
Submitting and presenting the research proposals: The investigators are advised to develop their proposals as per the pre-specified Pro forma and checklist. Investigators are invited to present their proposed research work at a scheduled RC meeting. Investigators are advised tomake a PowerPoint presentation of not more than eight minutes as per the template prescribed by the Research Committee. There will be three minutes timefor questions and clarificationsand the members will have to review the proposals as per review template. The reviewed proposals will be forwarded to Ethical Committee.
Email for communication: researchcommittee@vdc.edu.in
INSTITUTIONAL ETHICAL COMMITTEE (IEC)
The Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC) is responsible for the scientific, ethical and regulatory oversight of research conducted at Vishnu Dental College (Shri Vishnu Educational Society), and serves to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects. It is necessary for all research proposals on biomedical, social and behavioural science research for health involving human participants, their biological material and data to be reviewed and approved by IEC to safeguard the dignity, rights, safety and well-being of all research participants. IEC is entrusted with the initial review of research proposals prior to their initiation, and also have a continuing responsibility to regularly monitor the approved research to ensure ethical compliance during the conduct of research. Various types of biomedical and health research (whether clinical, basic science, policy, implementation, epidemiological, behavioral, public health research, etc) will be reviewed by IEC before it is conducted.
IEC members:
| Sl.No | Name of the Faculty | Designation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dr. K. Prasad | Chair Person |
| 2 | Dr. P. Arun Bhupathi | Member secretary |
| 3 | Dr. A. Srinivasa Rao | Basic medical scientist |
| 4 | Dr. Uloopi K. S. | Clinician |
| 5 | Dr. K. Bhaskara Narayana | Clinician |
| 6 | Dr. Praveen Gadde | Statistician |
| 7 | Mr. T. Ravi Kumar | Legal Person |
| 8 | Ms. Patapati Aruna Jyothi | Social scientist |
| 9 | Mrs. G. Radha | Lay Person |
Responsibilities of the IEC
- The basic responsibility of an IEC is to ensure protection of the dignity, rights, safety and well-being of the research participants.
- The IEC must ensure ethical conduct of research by the investigator team.
- The IEC should perform its function through competent initial and continuing review of all scientific, ethical, medical and social aspects of research proposals received by it in an objective, timely and independent manner by attending meetings, participation in discussion and deliberations.
- The IEC must ensure that universal ethical values and international scientific standards are followed in terms of local community values and customs.
- The IEC should assist in the development and education of the research community in the given institute (including researchers, clinicians, students and others), responsive to local healthcare requirements.
- The Secretariat should support the Member Secretary and Alternate Member Secretary (if applicable) in all their functions and should be trained in documentation and filing procedures under confidentiality agreement.
- The IEC should ensure that privacy of the individual and confidentiality of data including the documents of EC meetings is protected.
- The IEC reviews progress reports, final reports and AE/SAE and gives needful suggestions regarding care of the participants and risk minimization procedures, if applicable.
- The IEC should recommend appropriate compensation for research related injury, wherever required.
- The IEC should carry out monitoring visits at study sites as and when needed.
- The IEC should participate in continuing education activities in research ethics and get updated on relevant guidelines and regulations.
- The IEC may see that conduct of same/similar research by different investigators from same institution is harmonized.
Reference:
ICMR_Ethical_guide Click here
INSTITUTIONAL GRANTS COMMITTEE(IGC)
OBJECTIVES
To promote excellence in research in dental education by supporting research programmes of faculty and students in various dental specialities.
ELIGIBILITY/TARGET GROUP:
The Grants committee of Vishnu Dental College will provide support to working faculty and students of the college only.
The financial support would be decided by the Grants committee depending on the project/study.
Research project may be undertaken by an individual investigator or a group of investigators.
In case a project is undertaken jointly, one of the investigators will function as a Principal Investigator and he/she will be responsible for all matters pertaining to the project.
An investigator can have only one project at any given time. The one, which is offered and accepted first irrespective of Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator, must be completed before the other offer is accepted. It would be the responsibility of the Principal Investigator/Co-Investigator and the host Institution for total accountability of the project.
The Principal Investigator should strive to publish papers in a reputed journal in the form of Books/Article/Presentation in seminar etc. from the said project when completed.
The research Grants committee will also provide financial assistance to the college teachers and preferably students who wish to undertake a Minor Research Project under an approved supervisor.
NATURE OF ASSISTANCE:
The quantum of assistance for a research project will be as under:
The faculty members are entitled for research funding by the institution of sum up to Rs 25,000/- (maximum) for their research activities. However higher amount of fund may be sanctioned for exceptional projects after due diligence.
The funding will be done only after screening of the project by the institutional review board.
A faculty member will avail this funding only once in a year.
TENURE:
The duration of research project may be for a period of 24 months with 6 months extension. Extension would be permissible in special circumstances and will be without any financial assistance.
(l) Date of Implementation
The effective date of implementation of the project will be the date of receipt of fund by the Institution/investigator.
PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING:
All eligible faculty and students should submit their proposal to research committee, institutional review board (IRB). The investigator has to submit a detailed budgetary plan along with application. The proposal may be sent any time during the year however, the proposals will be evaluated by the research grants committee twice in a year. The date of research grants committee meeting will be notified one month in advance.
PROCEDURE FOR APPROVAL:
The proposals received byresearch committee will be screened by the Grants Committee and final decision will be taken keeping in view the recommendations made by the Expert Committee and the availability of funds for the scheme.
PROCEDURE FOR RELEASE OF GRANTS:
Initial grant would be decided according to the budgetary plan of the investigator. This grant will fulfil the basic requirements to start the project. Further grants would be sanctioned based on the requirement of the investigator and progress of the project.
MONITORING AND EVALUATION:
Annual Progress Report of work done must be submitted with a summary to the research grants Committee within eight weeks after completion of each year.
Grants Committee shall organize mid-term review meetings of all the ongoing projects.
The entire project shall be the property ofVishnu dental college. Any publication/report shall be done after obtaining permission from the principal, Vishnu dental college and with due acknowledgement to source of funding.