The National Institutes of Health (NIH) previously issued a policy on the use of a single Institutional Review Board (IRB) for multi-site research. The policy is to establish the expectation that a single IRB (sIRB) of record will be used in the ethical review of non-exempt human subjects research protocols funded by the NIH that are carried out at more than one site in the United States.
NIH has extended the effective date of the NIH Policy on the Use of a Single Institutional Review Board for Multi-Site Research to January 25, 2018. The policy will apply to all competing grant applications for due dates on or after January 25, 2018.
The NIH announcement can be reviewed at https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-17-076.html