The mandate of the HREC

All intramural and extramural research conducted by the SAMRC on humans has to be reviewed by the Ethics Committee. Collaborative research projects also have to be reviewed and approved by the SAMRC HREC and any other institutions that are involved, e.g. universities (locally and internationally).

The South African Medical Research Council Human Research Ethics Committee is registered by the National Health Research Ethics Council. Registration number: REC-050809-022  valid until 30 November 2027.

Federal-wide assurance (FWA) number of the SAMRC Ethics Committee

The SAMRC Ethics Committee is registered as an institutional review board (IRB) with the Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) of the USA Dept of Health and Human Services; IRB organisation identifier: IRB00001569. The Medical Research Council's unique Assurance Number is FWA00002753, and the unique Organisation Number is IORG0001163 as well as OLAWA5726-01.

Terms of Reference for HREC

The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) was established in 1969 with a mandate to improve the health of the country’s population, through research, development and technology transfer, so that people can enjoy a better quality of life. The vison of the SAMRC is “building a healthy nation through research and innovation” with a mission “to improve the nation's health and quality of life through promoting and conducting relevant and responsive health research”.

The SAMRC Human Research Ethics Committee (hereinafter referred to as the HREC/Committee) was established in terms of the SAMRC Research Ethics Policy (REP) with the primary purpose of reviewing and monitoring research in the intramural units of the SAMRC from an ethical perspective. This includes protecting participant rights in research, as well as promoting ethical values and research integrity within the SAMRC.

All research conducted by a Principal Investigator (PI) or Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) who is an SAMRC employee must be of the highest ethical standard and must be undertaken with prior written approval from the SAMRC HREC.

View the complete Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) Charter and Terms of Reference