iRIS Accounts and Access

 

General iRIS Access Notes

iRIS is the UCSF IRB’s online submission and review system. The current version of iRIS is compatible with all browsers and Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. See the FAQs for more info.

You must have a MyAccess account to access iRIS. You must be an employee of UCSF or it's affiliated institutions, or a UCSC researcher applying for UCSF GESCR review to access iRIS. Follow the instructions below if you do not have a MyAccess account and/or a UCSF ID.

Collaborators who are not employees of UCSF or its affiliates may not access iRIS. The UCSF study team is responsible for all iRIS submissions, including submissions for external relying sites. 

Getting an iRIS Account: Individuals with a UCSF ID

Follow these instructions if you are UCSF faculty, staff, resident, fellow, or student OR if you have a UCSF ID # for other reasons.

I have a UCSF ID # and a MyAccess account

  • Log in to MyAccess and click on the “IRB-iRIS (formerly ‘CHR – iRIS (iMEDRIS)’)” link.
  • If prompted, select an account request reason and then click “Create Account.” Choose the best option. If you are a resident or fellow, click the new faculty option.

I have a UCSF ID # but do not have a MyAccess account

  • Visit the Get MyAccess page and request an account. Contact UCSF Information Technology Services (ITS) for help.
  • Log into MyAccess and click on the “IRB-iRIS (formerly ‘CHR – iRIS (iMEDRIS)’)” link.
  • If prompted, select an account request reason and then click “Create Account.” Choose the best option. If you are a resident or fellow, click the new faculty option.
  • For more guidance, review instructions on logging into iRIS for the first time.

 

See the iRIS FAQs for information on getting access to individual research studies after your account is active.

Getting an iRIS Account: Individuals without a UCSF ID (Affiliate Access)

If you are working with an individual  who does not have a UCSF ID, you should first determine whether:

  • they need to access iRIS (e.g. the individual will assist with IRB submission, access study documents such as approved consent forms, the Sponsors Protocol, or IRB approval letters, OR they have regulatory or financial oversight responsibilities for studies in iRIS, or 
  • they are research study personnel but they do NOT need to access iRIS. 

If they need access to the iRIS system, they will need "affiliate access" to the UCSF network. To obtain affiliate access, follow the steps below based on whether or not the PI of the study has a UCSF appointment or affiliation.

If they do NOT need iRIS access and only need to be listed as a personnel on your study, follow the instructions below about Listing Non-UCSF Personnel in the IRB Application.

PI has a UCSF appointment or affiliation 

If the study PI has a UCSF appointment or affiliation, the PI’s department is responsible for initiating, extending, and discontinuing UCSF affiliate access for investigators and research support staff who do not have a UCSF ID.

NOTE: Effective August 12, 2019, the UCSF IRB is no longer managing UCSF network access requests for affiliate staff that report to faculty with a UCSF appointment or affiliation. The PI’s department is responsible for establishing and maintaining affiliate access. This includes staff and employees of the SF VAMC, Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, NCIRE and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

Process for Requesting Affiliate Access:

Reach out to the PI's UCSF department administrator and request that they submit a Volunteer, Vendor, Affiliate Appointment case via PeopleConnect with affiliate code type “AFFEMP’ (Employee of Affiliated Organization).

Include instructions in the Additional Details field that:

  • A UCSF email address should NOT be created for the affiliate, and
  • To add the affiliate to the Campus Locator System (CLS) after their affiliate access has been created, so the IRB staff can contact them (contact information flows from CLS into the user’s iRIS account).

Both of these details are important!

By default, the Identity Management team will create a <[email protected]> email account, and the affiliate will not receive the MyAccess account activation email at their institutional email address, since it will go to the new <[email protected]> address instead.

If the affiliate is not manually added to the CLS system, they will not receive any notifications from iRIS — including requests for corrections, approval letters, continuing review notifications, and reminders — even if they have been listed as a Study Contact.

Access Expires After One Year: Affiliate access generally expires after one year. If the affiliate needs to continue working in IRIS beyond the expiration date, submit and affiliate extension request via the PeopleConnect system.  Study personnel who need to be listed in the IRB application but who don’t require access to UCSF networks and systems should be allowed to expire.

If the PI's HR representative is unsure how to grant affiliate access, please share these instructions with them.

HR Process for granting Department-sponsored affiliate network access

  • Use the appropriate Affiliate Title Code (Note: the IMED affiliate code is reserved for UCSF IRB-sponsored affiliates)
  • Add the PI’s department as the affiliate’s department
  • List the PI as the affiliate staff’s supervisor
  • Be sure to include the affiliate's email address and phone number. Affiliates without an email address will not receive important notifications from the iRIS system
  • List the new affiliate in the Campus Locator System (CLS). The iRIS system receives affiliate contact information from CLS, not the IID system. Without this step, affiliates will not receive notifications from the iRIS system and the IRB staff will not be able to call them.

Note: Unauthorized affiliate accounts with either the IMED code or with the HRPP listed as their department may be deactivated at any time without notice.

PI does NOT have a UCSF appointment

The UCSF IRB will establish and maintain UCSF affiliate access for the following groups:

  • PIs, investigators and research support staff from UCSF affiliated institutions (Gladstone, Institute on Aging, SFDPH, UC Santa Cruz - Stem Cell Research) who do not have a UCSF appointment 

Process for Requesting Access:

  1. Complete the online iRIS Access Request Form
  2. The IRB Management team will review the request to determine if the affiliate is eligible for IRB sponsorship.
    • If eligible, the UCSF IRB will grant affiliate access (allow 10 days).
    • If the affiliate is not eligible for IRB sponsorship, you will receive an email with instructions for requesting access through the PI’s department.
  3. After the UCSF ID for the affiliate is created, you will be able to search for and add the affiliate to your studies in iRIS by using the "Search MyAccess" option.
  4. The affiliate should set up a MyAccess account and login to iRIS, as described above. Please note that the affiliate will not see any studies until a current member of the study team adds them to the study. See the iRIS FAQs for more information.

Access Expires After One Year: UCSF IRB-sponsored affiliate accounts expire annually in January. The IRB sends an reminder to request extension of affiliate extension in December. If an extension request is not received, access will l expire and the affiliate will not be able to log into iRIS. However, the they will still be listed in the iRIS directory and can be added to future studies. Contact the IRB with questions.

 

Listing Non-UCSF Personnel in the IRB Application 

All non-UCSF study personnel who fit the definition of Key Study Personnel (KSP) should be listed in the study application. Where and how to list them depends on whether they need access to iRIS:

Non-UCSF collaborators who need iRIS access

These individuals typically need iRIS access in order to make changes to the study or download study documents. You need to request affiliate access for them, as described above. After access is granted, list these individuals as KSP in the two following sections of the IRB application:

  • Section 3: “List the Key Study Personnel”
  • Qualifications of Key Study Personnel” (section # varies)

Non-UCSF Key Study Personnel who do not need iRIS access 

These individuals do not need affiliate access. Add them to following section of the IRB application:

  • “Qualifications of Key Study Personnel” (section # varies). Use the “Affiliated Personnel” subsection to list any study personnel who fit ALL OF the following criteria:
    • They meet the definition of Key Study Personnel, and
    • They are associated with a UCSF-affiliated institution (e.g., VAMC, Gladstone, Institute on Aging, Vitalant, NCIRE, SFDPH, or ZSFG), and
    • They do not have a UCSF ID, and
    • They do not need access to the study application and other study materials in iRIS.

Before submitting the application, be sure to attach a CITI [15] Certificate for all persons listed in the “Affiliated Personnel” subsection.

 

Departmental Access to iRIS

Departmental access allows a department administrator to view all of the studies associated with designated department ID code(s). The IRB may grant special departmental access to department MSOs, department Research Finance Administrators or other individuals who justify needing this type of access. After this access is granted, you will have read-only access to all studies that are being done in your department(s).

To request access to departmental information within iRIS:

  1. Complete the Departmental Access Request Form and
  2. Email the completed form to [email protected].

Last updated: May 7, 2025