Definitions for "Institutional Review Board"
An independent group of individuals including physicians, scientists, legal representatives, patient advocates and clergy whose responsibility is to ensure the protection of the rights, safety, and well-being of human subjects involved in a trial by reviewing, approving, and providing continuing review of trials, protocols and amendments, and of the methods and material to be used in obtaining and documenting the informed consent.  See Independent Ethics Committee.
An independent body constituted of medical, scientific and non-scientific members whose responsibility is to ensure the protection of the rights, safety and well-being of human subjects involved in a study by, among other things, reviewing, approving and providing continuing review of study protocol and amendments and of the methods used in obtaining and documenting informed consent of the study subjects. This term is used predominantly in North America and Japan. In Europe the equivalent body is the Independent (Research) Ethics Committee.
a specially constituted review body established or designated by an entity to protect the welfare of human subjects recruited to participate in biomedical or behavioral research.