Western Research has updated some of the forms within the WREM system, which will become active at 4pm on January 28, 2022. The updated forms include:

• The HSREB & NMREB amendment forms;
• The HSREB/NMREB Continuing Ethics Review Form;
• The HSREB/NMREB Study Closure form; and
• The NMREB Initial Application form.

Changes have been made to reflect ongoing feedback from users for clarity, to hopefully reduce recommendations and to assist in expeditious review.

When you log in to WREM you will notice the following message appear in the Work Area at the top of your screen in a pink bar: “Warning: The Project Owner must update your project in order to submit this form.”

The Project Owner (i.e., the user who created the project) will need to accept the update prior to a) submitting an application and/or b) completing an application the study team has been working on when the message appears.

Are there any implications to updating the form(s)?

Consider these three scenarios:

1. The form has not been submitted, and is still unlocked
   Updating the project will have little to no effect except for any questions that have been updated in the form you are completing. It will not affect the information that has been inputted into questions that have not been updated.
2. The form has not been submitted, but the form has been locked by a signature request
   Updating the project will break these signatures requests. Once the project has been updated, a signature will need to be requested again to submit to our office for review.
3. The form has been signed and submitted
   Updating the project will have no effect on any submitted forms.

Registering an application with ReDA

Since WREM’s launch, ongoing confusion has been identified regarding when study teams should submit to ReDA.

If you are conducting a research study that also requires oversight from Lawson Health Research Institute (per criteria), the study team MUST first register the study with ReDA prior to exporting it from ReDA to WREM. For more specific information, please contact Lawson at lawsonapproval@lawsonresearch.com

Further information and contacts

To access WREM training material and FAQs please visit the website and WREM.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to any member of the Research Ethics team, or email ethics@uwo.ca.