As of June 15, 2021, California and Los Angeles County will be “fully reopening.” This raises questions regarding the restrictions that USC and the USC IRBs have imposed on both on campus and field/community-based research. In light of the changes at the state and county level, as of June 15, 2021, the USC IRBs will no longer require that PIs complete an Attestation or submit PI- or Study-level resumption plan approval notices in order to conduct research that involves in-person interaction with participants either on campus or in the field/community. Consistent with the approach being undertaken by UCLA, the USC IRBs will still expect that all PIs and study team members will comply with CDC, California Department of Public Health, LA County Department of Public Health, and Cal/OSHA for personnel density, masking, and distancing guidance and requirements when conduct research on campus and in the field/community. To that end, investigators will continue to indicate in iStar if they are going to be conducting field/community-based research involving in-person interaction and if so, answer questions provided by EH&S.
