Johns Hopkins Institutional Approval Process for Research Involving Institutional Data Sets

February 2019

Johns Hopkins maintains data sets for its own institutional and compliance purposes in a number of domains that may be of interest to researchers. These data sets are often subject to laws or policies that are distinct from the Common Rule or HIPAA, or may be information that Johns Hopkins considers  proprietary. In recognition of our role as a research institution, access to these data sets may be permitted for JHU researchers under protocols approved by a JHU Institutional Review Board (“IRB”), and with the additional review and approval of the offices outlined below for the various data categories. Access to these data sets is conditioned on researchers demonstrating appropriate data security practices, removing identifiers to the maximum extent practicable and requiring any collaborators outside of Johns Hopkins to enter into appropriate Data Use Agreements. Compliance with FERPA policies (if applicable), and the JHU Policy on Personally Identifiable Information must be demonstrated by the researcher requesting data access.

The chart below identifies the institutional party responsible for different data types:

DATA TYPE CUSTODIAN INSTITUTIONAL APPROVAL FOR
ACCESS
Student records University Registrar University Registrar/
Chief Risk Officer
OIE Data OIEVP for Institutional Equity/
Chief Risk Officer
Human Resources Data HR VP for HR/Chief Risk Officer
JHED data ITChief Information Officer/
Chief Risk Officer
Non-student Trainees (including
post doc scholars and fellows)
School Dean’s Office Dean’s Office representative
/Chief Risk Officer
School of Medicine Trainees
and Residents (including GME
and non-GME programs)
School of Medicine Dean’s
Office
School of Medicine Vice Dean
for Education/Chief Risk Officer