Required Education and Training
Texas A&M requires all individuals involved in the design, conduct, or reporting of human subjects research to complete Human Subject Protection Training, Financial Conflict of Interest in Research Training, and HIPAA Privacy and Security for Human Research Training.
Good Clinical Practice training may also be required when using FDA regulated test articles or required by sponsor or funding agency.
Required Training
IRB approval will not be granted for proposed research or continuing review of research in which all members of the research team have not completed human research protections training, HIPAA, or COI disclosure.
To see a list of required training for investigators and research staff involved in clinical studies and investigators and research staff involved in socio-behavioral studies, please consult the Investigator Handbook.
Additional Training Opportunities
Informed consent is a process, not merely a form. Information must be presented to enable individuals to decide voluntarily whether to participate in research. Informed Consent is a fundamental mechanism to ensure respect for persons through provision of thorough information about the research in which the individual is being invited to participate so that he or she can make an informed decision to participate voluntarily.
OHRP offers a variety of free online trainings for the research community on human research protections based on the principles of the Belmont Report and the requirements of the revised Common Rule (or 2018 Requirements).
Learn how to create participant-centered informed consent forms through this interactive training.
Informed Consent – More than Just Another Document to Sign?
The research community has an ethical obligation to ensure that people understand the purpose and potential risks and benefits of research before they agree to join a clinical trial. FDA leaders will:
Give an update on the FDA’s efforts to help improve informed consent materials so that they are more understandable for participants.
Recommend how informed consent can be presented in a clear, comprehensible way.
Discuss how revised consent can help individuals make an informed decision on whether to join a clinical trial.
This event is free and open to the public. However, registration is required and open until the meeting starts. Registrants can submit questions for speakers on the registration page and during the event.
Request a Presentation
The Human Research Protection Program provides educational resources and training opportunities for those involved in human subjects’ research. To schedule a presentation, please contact the HRPP office at 979.458.4067 or irb@tamu.edu.
Training in TrainTraq
Financial Conflict of Interest in Research Training and HIPAA Privacy and Security for Human Research Training should be completed via TrainTraq.
Users that do not have an SSO account (i.e. some students, external collaborators) will need to use the TrainTraq external gateway to access the courses:
- For Financial Conflict of Interest in Research Training and HIPAA Privacy and Security for Human Research Training, please email us at irb@tamu.edu to get temporary log in information.
- For all others, please contact the person, group, or department that directed you to complete training. They should be able to provide you temporary login information. If they don’t have this information, they (not individual students) should contact TrainTraqHelp@tamus.edu to obtain this information.
The courses must be complete with a minimum score of 100 percent. You may retake the exam until you achieve that score.
Follow the steps below to sign up for the Traintraq courses:
Step 1: Go to https://sso.tamus.edu/main.aspx
Step 2: Select “TrainTraq”
Step 3: Select “Course Catalog”
Step 4: Search by Course Name or Course Number. Make sure “TAMUS Member” is set to “All”.
- “Financial Conflicts of Interest in Research” – “2111716”
- “Texas A&M HIPAA and Security Training for TAMU, AgriLife, TEES, TEEX, TTI Faculty, Staff, & Students” – “2114755”
Step 5: Select the course and “start course”.