Starting March 3, 2026, Queen’s Research Ethics will roll out a new application form and approval pathway for research databases, biobanks, and registries supporting human participant research.
The new process aligns with the Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS2 2022) and distinguishes the technical, administrative and operational elements from ethics approval and oversight.
The Research Ethics Board will review:
- Consent language
- Privacy and confidentiality
- Participant awareness
- Withdrawal and retention
- Access and secondary use of data and biospecimens (please note, each secondary use must align with the original consent form signed by participants and requires a separate ethical review)
A separate review committee, still under development, will be consulted as appropriate to assess the technical, administrative and operational elements of the protocol/project and provide recommendations to the REB to be used at their discretion.
The review committee will assess:
- Digital infrastructure
- Data architecture
- Operational oversight
- Legal and custodial arrangements
While the review committee may make recommendations, authority to approve/deny research remains with the Research Ethics Board.
Action required
Researchers establishing or seeking approval for a research database, biobank, or participant registry that involves the collection, storage, or management of human participant data and/or biospecimens under the oversight of Queen’s University and/or its affiliated hospitals are required to complete the Databases, Biobanks and Registries Application form and submit it on TRAQ. All databases, biobanks and registries must complete the new process by September 2026.
Definitions
Databases, biobanks, and registries do not constitute "research" themselves because they don’t address a single, specific research question. For the purposes of the new process, they are defined below:
- Databases: Organized collections of searchable research data stored for specific or future unspecified research purposes, with the intent to share.
- Biobanks: Collections of human biological materials (e.g., blood, DNA, tissues) and associated data.
- Registries: Systematic collections of data about individuals, often focused on a specific disease or condition.
Learn more
VPR presented a webinar about the new research repositories pathway on February 24. View the webinar recording or the slide deck.
If you have any questions, please contact the Ethics team at researchethics@queensu.ca or attend one of their virtual drop-in sessions, every Tuesday and Thursday.