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Nichelle Cobb, PhD, CIP
Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives
Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs, Inc. (AAHRPP)
Bio
Nichelle Cobb, PhD, is the Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives for the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) and previously a site visitor for AAHRPP and member of AAHRPP’s Council on Accreditation. Prior to joining AAHRPP, she was the Director of the Health Sciences Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) for 16 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has worked with IRBs for 20+ years.
Dr. Cobb has been involved in single IRB work for more than a decade and was instrumental in the development of the SMART IRB Reliance Agreement and serves as a Senior Advisor and Ambassador for SMART IRB, a federally funded project to support the implementation of single IRB. In addition, she is a member of the SMART IRB Harmonization Steering Committee and has co-led working groups to harmonize IRB and Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) practices, such as for reportable events, ancillary reviews, continuing review, and local context.
Dr. Cobb also has been a member and co-chair of human subjects research content planning committees for the Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research (PRIM&R) annual Advancing Ethics in Research Conference, contributed to IRB Management and Function, 3rd Edition, authored academic articles on single IRB and informed consent, and developed and taught PRIM&R courses for new IRB administrators and about the Common Rule. Dr. Cobb also serves as a peer reviewer on HRPP-related topics for several journals. She has been invited to many regional and national meetings to speak on issues affecting HRPPs and especially IRBs.
Committees
PRIM&R Board of Directors
SMART IRB Harmonization Steering Committee