General introduction to the online course

Before a new clinical research study can begin in the Netherlands, the research file must be reviewed and approved by an official reviewing committee. In most (but not all) cases, the reviewing committee is one of the 20 or so accredited Medical Research Ethics Committees (MRECs; in Dutch: METC) in the Netherlands. In rare cases, the reviewing committee is not an accredited MREC but the Central Committee Involving Human Subjects (in Dutch: CCMO). In addition, for some clinical research with gene therapy and cell therapy medicinal products, also the Ministry of Infrastructure & Watermanagement is involved (environmental permit).