The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs has accredited four more organizations: the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in Los Angeles, Calif.; Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans, La.; Opus IRB in Roswell, Ga.; and Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Ill.

Ten years after issuing its first accreditation standards, AAHRPP has accredited more than 50% of U.S. research-intensive universities and U.S. medical schools. In addition, all major U.S. independent review boards are now AAHRPP accredited.

“Over the past 10 years, AAHRPP accreditation has become the gold standard for research protections — the mark of quality for human research protection programs nationwide,” said Marjorie A. Speers, Ph.D., president and CEO of AAHRPP. “As a result, we’ve seen significant improvements in U.S. research protections. Our goal, now, is to achieve similar results worldwide, especially given the increasingly global nature of the research enterprise.”

AAHRPP accreditation is available to U.S. and international organizations that conduct biomedical, behavioral or social sciences research involving human participants.