The nonprofit Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) has accredited three more organizations, including two independent institutional review boards in Massachusetts and a second organization in Mexico.

The newly accredited organizations are:

• Asentral IRB, Newburyport, Mass.
• Facultad de Medicina y Hospital Universitario, Dr. José Eleuterio Gonzalez de la Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey, Mexico
• HummingbirdIRB, Cambridge, Mass.

“These three organizations join the nearly 200 worldwide that have earned AAHRPP accreditation—the gold standard for quality research and research protections,” said Elyse Summers, AAHRPP president and CEO. “Together, AAHRPP-accredited organizations are fulfilling their commitment to research participants and to the global community, which relies on clinical trials and other studies to gain new knowledge and treatments.”

To earn AAHRPP accreditation, organizations must demonstrate that they have built extensive safeguards into every level of their research operation and that they adhere to high standards for research. In today’s global, collaborative research enterprise, organizations increasingly rely on AAHRPP accreditation status to help identify trusted research partners.

To date, AAHRPP has accredited organizations in 46 states, Canada, China, India, Mexico, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Taiwan. All major U.S. independent institutional review boards have earned AAHRPP accreditation. In addition, more than 60% of U.S. research-intensive universities and over 65% of U.S. medical schools are either AAHRPP accredited or have begun the accreditation process. The NIH has earned accreditation, as has Pfizer, the largest industry sponsor of clinical research.