I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8172 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to use accredited commercial 

institutional review boards to review research proposal protocols of the 

Department, and to establish an Office of Research Reviews in the 

Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 

Mrs. LURIA (for herself and Mr. BANKS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to use accredited 

commercial institutional review boards to review research 

proposal protocols of the Department, and to establish 

an Office of Research Reviews in the Department of 

Veterans Affairs. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘VA Research Tech5 nology Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. USE BY DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF 

2 COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW 

3 BOARDS IN SPONSORED RESEARCH TRIALS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet6 erans Affairs shall complete all necessary policy revisions 

7 within the directive of the Veterans Health Administration 

8 numbered 1200.05 and titled ‘‘Requirements for the Pro9 tection of Human Subjects in Research’’, to allow spon10 sored clinical research of the Department of Veterans Af11 fairs to use accredited commercial institutional review 

12 boards to review research proposal protocols of the De13 partment. 

14 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF REVIEW BOARDS.—Not later 

15 than 90 days after the completion of the policy revisions 

16 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— 

17 (1) identify accredited commercial institutional 

18 review boards for use in connection with sponsored 

19 clinical research of the Department; and 

20 (2) establish a process to modify existing ap21 provals in the event that a commercial institutional 

22 review board loses its accreditation during an ongo23 ing clinical trial. 

24 (c) REPORT.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

26 the completion of the policy revisions under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8172.IH H8172

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1 section (a), and annually thereafter, the Secretary 

2 shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

3 of the Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Af4 fairs of the House of Representatives a report on all 

5 approvals of institutional review boards used by the 

6 Department, including central institutional review 

7 boards and commercial institutional review boards. 

8 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para9 graph (1) shall include, at a minimum, the following: 

10 (A) The name of each clinical trial with re11 spect to which the use of an institutional review 

12 board has been approved. 

13 (B) The institutional review board or insti14 tutional review boards used in the approval 

15 process for each clinical trial. 

16 (C) The amount of time between submis17 sion and approval. 

18 SEC. 3. CREATION OF OFFICE OF RESEARCH REVIEWS 

19 WITHIN THE OFFICE OF INFORMATION AND 

20 TECHNOLOGY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VET21 ERANS AFFAIRS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

23 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet24 erans Affairs shall establish within the Office of Informa25 tion and Technology of the Department of Veterans AfVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Sep 05, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8172.IH H8172

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1 fairs an Office of Research Reviews (in this section re2 ferred to as the ‘‘Office’’). 

3 (b) ELEMENTS.—The Office shall do the following: 

4 (1) Perform centralized security reviews and 

5 complete security processes for approved research 

6 sponsored outside the Department, with a focus on 

7 multi-site clinical trials. 

8 (2) Develop and maintain a list of commercially 

9 available software preferred for use in sponsored 

10 clinical trials of the Department and ensure such list 

11 is maintained as part of the official approved soft12 ware products list of the Department. 

13 (3) Develop benchmarks for appropriate 

14 timelines for security reviews conducted by the Of15 fice. 

16 (c) REPORT.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

18 after the establishment of the Office, the Office shall 

19 submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

20 Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

21 the House of Representatives a report on the activity 

22 of the Office. 

23 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report required by para24 graph (1) shall include the following: 


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1 (A) The number of security reviews com2 pleted. 

3 (B) The number of personnel assigned for 

4 performing the functions described in sub5 section (b). 

Æ 


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