The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is dedicated to ensuring the rights, safety, and well-being of volunteers participating in research. Accordingly, DARPA assures that all of its research selected for funding involving human subjects (to include use of human biological specimens and human data) complies with all local, federal and Department of Defense (DoD) regulations for human subjects protection.
All DARPA funded Human Subjects Research (HSR) must be reviewed and approved by a local Institutional Review Board (IRB) as well as a DoD Headquarters Level Office (Human Research Protection Office, HRPO). The DARPA program manager (PM) team will provide guidance and information about which DoD HRPO will be conducting the review for your effort. Note: a fully approved IRB submission is required before HRPO approval can be issued.
The time required to complete both the IRB and HRPO review/approval process varies depending on the complexity of the research and the level of study risk involved. Ample time should be allocated to complete the approval process. DARPA funding cannot be used toward HSR until all approvals are granted.
Animal Subjects Research
Award recipients performing research, experimentation, or testing involving the use of animals shall comply with the rules on animal acquisition, transport, care, handling, and use as outlined in:
- 9 CFR parts 1-4, Department of Agriculture rules that implement the Animal Welfare Act of 1966, as amended, (7 U.S.C. § 2131-2159);
- National Institutes of Health Publication No. 86-23, "Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals" (8th Edition);
- DoD Instruction 3216.01, “Use of Animal in DoD Conducted and Supported Research and Training” and
- Defense Health Agency-Multi-Service Regulation (DHA-MSR) 6025.02, “The Care and Use of Animals in DoD Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) or Training Programs.”
For all proposed research anticipating animal use, proposals should briefly describe plans for Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) review and approval. Additionally, all DoD-funded animal use research must also be approved by a DoD veterinarian at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC) Animal Care and Use Review Office (ACURO).