CITI Training Instructions for CHLA ED Research Assistants
Before beginning any work as a research assistant at CHLA, you will need to obtain the certifications required by CHLA Committee on Clinical Investigation (CCI), which functions as the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Please begin by creating a CITI account ( if you don’t already have one. For instructions to create a CITI account for the first time, visit
CITI is a nationwide online program that provides research ethics training. Designate (or add) CHLA as an affiliation, and also check off the box that says iStar.* Obtain CITI certifications from 3 modules:
(1)Good Clinical Practice (GCP)
(2)Basic Human Subjects – Biomedical, and
(3)Basic Human Subjects – Social/Behavioral
Please plan on setting side several hours for each module. The CITI website is organized such that from the Main Menu once you have logged in: (1) Click on “Add a course or update your learner groups for CHLA,” select “Human Research Course,” then “Basic Course,” and then “Biomedical” to enroll for certification; (2) Next, return to “Add a course or update your learner groups for CHLA," select “Human Research Course,” then “Basic Course,” and then “Social/Behavioral” to enroll for certification.
When you are finished, please submit the certifications to Yvette Resendiz (). Within 2 weeks after completing CITI training, you will receive an email containing instructions to activate your iStar* account. If after 2 weeks you do not receive this notification email, please call the CCI office at (323)361-2265 and let the IRB administrator on the phone know your GCP reference number, in order to activate your iStar account. Once you have obtained your iStar account, please let us know.
Should you have questions about the modules, please contact one of our Division’s research specialists, Phung Pham () or Michelle Yang (). If your question is more about the site itself rather than your required modules, please review the CITI frequently asked questions section on the website ( If this doesn’t answer your question, then your last resort should be to contact the iStar division directly. Our point person is Maritess Coronel ().
*The iStar system helps CCI to facilitate IRB approval prior to beginning any research project. Please visit the CCI’s FAQ for details about iStar and the IRB process in general:
Please understand that we take research in our department very seriously, and reserve the right to terminate your research involvement at any time. We are very happy to have you as part of our research team and are looking forward to working with you.