New or ongoing human stem cell research that is:
must be in conformity with the Guidelines as of March 4th 2002. Please note that the 2002 Guidelines have been superseded by the Updated Guidelines for Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Research as of June 29, 2007. As well, all such research must be in conformity with the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS).
Note that, according to the TCPS "An institution is responsible for the ethical conduct of research undertaken by its faculty, staff or students regardless of the location where the research is conducted. Thus, review of research by that institution's REB is required in addition to review by any agency having jurisdiction over the site of research."
Review and approval of applications by the Stem Cell Oversight Committee (SCOC), the local REB and, where appropriate, the Animal Care Committee (ACC) may be required (see Frequently Asked Question #4).
SCOC, local REB and, where appropriate, ACC approval is required for:
Note that REB and, where appropriate, ACC approval, is required for i-iii above.
At any time the local REB or ACC may refer a human stem cell research proposal to SCOC for ethics review if it considers the research to be within SCOC's purview, according to the above criteria.
The following human embryonic stem cell lines have been reviewed by SCOC, found to be in conformity with the Guidelines, and approved by CIHR's Governing Council. Note that research projects that use these cell lines still need to be reviewed and approved by SCOC before the work can commence.
| Cell Line | Source |
|---|---|
| H1, H7, H9 | WiCell |
| hES1, hES2, hES3, hES4, hES5, hES6 | ES Cell International |
| I3, I6 | Technion-Israel Institute of Technology |
| HSF-6 | University of California, San Francisco |
| CA1, CA2 | Dr. Andras Nagy, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto |
| HUES 1-28 | Dr. Douglas Melton, Harvard University |
Note that if researchers wish to introduce major changes in direction in a research plan previously approved by SCOC (e.g. if they wish to use additional human pluripotent stem cell lines not previously approved by SCOC), they must submit a new application to SCOC describing the changes in the research plan.
Researchers who wish to use additional SCOC-approved stem cell lines not described in the original research application without major changes in the research plan should notify SCOC in writing, providing details of the original application and specifying the names of the new cell lines.
Provided there are no substantive changes in the research plan described in the application to SCOC, approval will be effective for the duration of funding of the research project, as originally submitted to SCOC.
The Guidelines state in Section 8.4.2 that "Copies of contracts between researchers, institutions and industry sponsors and any relevant budgetary information must be provided to the Stem Cell Oversight Committee and the local REB, to examine and evaluate any potential or actual conflict of interest and to ensure the right to publish freely after a modest interval."
SCOC will identify any concerns it may have with a contract, communicate these to the researcher and to the VP Research at the relevant institution, and request assurance that these issues have been resolved to the satisfaction of the VP Research.
If you are uncertain about whether or not your research should be reviewed by SCOC, please contact:
Lynne Cayer
Ethics Policy Advisor
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Telephone: 613-952-4264
Email: stemcell@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
