Dr. Derek E. Byers, a Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named Executive Chair of the Washington University Institutional Review Board (IRB), the multidisciplinary group that reviews and approves protocols for research studies that involve human subjects. The board is responsible for protecting the rights and welfare of anyone participating in a research study conducted by Washington University investigators.
Byers will begin his role August 1st. In his new role as Executive Chair, he will be responsible for the oversight of IRB review and approval of human subject research to make sure it complies with current guidelines, institutional policies, and state and federal regulations governing the protection of human research subjects. Byers has been a chair with the Washington University IRB since 2013.
For several years, Dr. Byers has lead research in translational studies of chronic lung diseases and lung transplantation. He developed the Advanced Lung Disease Tissue Repository for investigations in lung diseases, and he is Director of the Pulmonary Morphology Core at Washington University, which processes thousands of tissue specimens per year and serves the processing needs for over 30 labs annually at Washington University. These roles are complemented by responsibilities as an Associate Director in the Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences and service on the Research Advisory Board with the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
Byers earned is MD and PhD from the University of Texas Southwestern at Dallas and completed his internal medicine residency there as well. A fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine brought him to Washington University School of Medicine in 2005. He joined the faculty here in 2008.