Who Can Be a Protocol Director?

The Protocol Director (PD) is the individual responsible for the overall conduct of the human subjects research. The role of PD is more expansive from the Principal Investigator (PI), as it include students and other individuals when certain conditions are met, and is not determined by funding.

It is the PD’s responsibility to submit a written protocol to the IRB for review and the ongoing adherence to the determinations and requirements of the IRB for the duration of the research. At submission, the obligations of the PD with respect to oversight of the research protocol and research staff during recruitment, selection of study participants, and conduct of the study are stated in the application and must be agreed to by the PD. For more information, see HRPP Policy Manual, Section 15.3 Research Oversight.

Who Can Be Protocol Director?

The following table outlines who can serve as the PD on an IRB application. For any positions or titles not listed, please contact IRBeducation@stanford.edu.

Position/Title(s)	Eligible to be a PD?	IRB Condition(s) for PD Eligibility
Academic Council Professoriate - University Tenure Line (UTL)/University Medical Line (UML) Faculty Assistant Professor Associate Professor Professor	Yes	N/A
Academic Council Professoriate - Non-Tenure Line Faculty Assistant Professor (Research) or (Teaching) Associate Professor (Research) or (Teaching) Professor (Research) or (Teaching)	Yes	N/A
Senior Fellows and Center Fellows in Designated Policy Centers and Institutes	Yes	N/A
School of Medicine (SoM) Clinician Educators Clinical Assistant Professor Clinical Associate Professor Clinical Professor	Yes	N/A
Academic Staff - Research Senior Research Scientist Senior Research Engineer Senior Research Scholar	Conditional	Requires a PI Waiver associated with funding source OR Academic Sponsor that is Faculty or a Clinician Educator.
MD/PhD at a Shared Facility/Service Center	Conditional	Requires a PI Exception for a project within the shared facility/service center.
Students/Residents Undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate Post Doctoral Scholar/Fellow Resident	Conditional	Requires an Academic sponsor that is Faculty or a Clinician Educator.
Other Teaching Staff - Acting Assistant Professor Associate Professor Professor	Conditional	Requires a PI Waiver associated with funding source OR Faculty or Clinician Educator listed as a co-investigator.
School of Medicine (SoM) Instructors Acting Instructor Clinical Instructor Award	Conditional	Requires a PI Waiver associated with funding source OR Faculty or Clinician Educator listed as an Academic Sponsor.
Visiting Appointments Lecturer Instructor Assistant Professor Associate Professor Professor Visiting Student Researcher	No	May be listed on the eProtocol application (e.g., investigator); however, they cannot serve as the PD.
School of Medicine (SoM) Scholars Visiting Scholars Clinical Scholars Visiting Postdoctoral Scholars	No	May be listed on the eProtocol application (e.g., investigator); however, they cannot serve as the PD.
School of Medicine (SoM) Adjunct Clinical Faculty (ACF) Instructor Assistant Professor Associate Professor Professor Clinician Educator	No	May be listed on the eProtocol application (e.g., investigator); however, they cannot serve as the PD.
Adjunct Appointments Professor Lecturer	No	May be listed on the eProtocol application (e.g., investigator); however, they cannot serve as the PD.
School of Medicine (SoM) - Other Clinical Instructor (Affiliated) Clinical Associate Professor (Affiliated) Lecturer Senior Lecturer	No	May be listed on the eProtocol application (e.g., investigator); however, they cannot serve as the PD.
Hospital Employees	No	May be listed on the eProtocol application (e.g., investigator); however, they cannot serve as the PD.

Page updated July, 2025

Who Can Be a Protocol Director?

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Who Can Be Protocol Director?