--- title: "IRB Protocol Review Workflow With AI Agents | Kylon" description: "How an IRB office screens submissions, checks the review worksheet and handles training lapses and a moved board meeting in one Kylon room, with every path approved." url: "https://kylon.io/use-cases/research-protocol-review" language: "en" --- [HOME](https://kylon.io/)\>[Use Cases](https://kylon.io/use-cases)\>Research Protocol Review: Every Submission on the Right Path Before the Board Meets Use Case7 min read # Research Protocol Review: Every Submission on the Right Path Before the Board Meets IRB screening, the review worksheet, lapsed training, reclassifications, withdrawals and a moved meeting run through one Kylon room. Agents read SharePoint and Box and check the worksheet, and the IRB coordinator approves every review path before a record changes. [Get started](https://app.kylon.io/sign-up) Kylon TeamProduct November 6, 2026 ## Thirty submissions, one board date and training that lapses An IRB intake cycle sorts every new submission into a review path. Studies that fit an exempt category go one way, studies eligible for expedited review go to a designated reviewer, and the rest wait for the convened board. A submission is not complete until its consent documents match the protocol version and every listed investigator's human subjects training is current. Protocol rows and training records sit in two lists on the same SharePoint site, consent documents sit in each protocol's Box folder, and the board meeting is an event on the IRB calendar. The coordinator's review worksheet is built from all three. When a training record lapses or the meeting moves, someone re-sorts the affected protocols by hand and fixes the worksheet afterward. ## Who works in the room People - IRB coordinator Runs the intake cycle, approves every review path and sends notices to investigators - IRB chair Decides reclassifications and every question of risk, and sets the board agenda - Research compliance specialist Maintains investigator training records and confirms lapses and renewals Agents - FinSubmission screener Reads every protocol row and its investigators' training records from SharePoint, checks the consent documents in Box and proposes a review path SharePointBoxGoogle Drive - AdaWorksheet checker Checks the coordinator's review worksheet line by line against the approved paths and lists every line that differs Google DriveSharePoint - NovaMeetings and investigator notices Proposes board meeting events and agenda changes, and drafts notices to investigators for the coordinator to send Google Calendar[Gmail](https://kylon.io/integrations/gmail) [Slack](https://kylon.io/integrations/slack) Fin answers by default in the IRB room, so a question about a submission's path needs no mention. A message about the worksheet goes to Ada, and anything touching the meeting calendar or an investigator's inbox goes to Nova, which works through the coordinator's own Calendar and Gmail connections, checked on every call. When Fin changes a protocol's path, it mentions Nova in the same thread so the agenda and the notice follow. ## How the intake cycle runs The review policy is in Drive and summarized in the room guidelines. For the first pass, Fin splits the thirty consent document checks across parallel helpers and works from the one list they return. Every step stops at a person. ```mermaid flowchart TD subs([New submissions land
in SharePoint]) screen["Fin proposes a review path from
consent documents and training"] ok1["IRB coordinator approves
before SharePoint changes"] sheet["Ada checks the worksheet line
by line against the paths"] training([A training record lapses
or is renewed]) specialist["Compliance specialist
confirms the record"] reclass["IRB chair moves a study
to full board"] resort["Fin re-sorts only the protocols
each change names"] meeting([Protocols are withdrawn
or the meeting moves]) nova["Nova proposes the agenda change,
new event and notices"] ok2["Coordinator approves, sends the
notices and cancels the old event"] recheck["Ada re-checks the worksheet lines
that point at the meeting"] close["Fin counts each review path from
the current SharePoint rows"] sign["IRB chair signs the cycle"] subs --> screen --> ok1 --> sheet --> resort training --> specialist --> resort reclass --> resort resort --> nova meeting --> nova nova --> ok2 --> recheck --> close --> sign class screen,sheet,resort,nova,recheck,close agent class ok1,specialist,reclass,ok2,sign person class subs,training,meeting event classDef agent fill:#FFFFFF,stroke:#DCD3C8,color:#1B1712 classDef person fill:#EEF0E3,stroke:#6E7447,color:#1B1712 classDef event fill:#F4ECDD,stroke:#F4ECDD,color:#564C42 ``` | Stage | What happens | Who acts | Who decides | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Screening | Each submission gets a review path from the policy, its consent documents and its own investigators' training | Fin, from SharePoint and Box | The coordinator approves before SharePoint changes | | Worksheet review | The worksheet is checked line by line against the approved paths | Ada | The coordinator corrects it | | Training lapse or renewal | Only the protocols that list the affected investigator are re-sorted | Fin | The compliance specialist confirms the record and the coordinator approves | | Reclassification | A study the chair moves to full board joins the next meeting agenda | Fin, then Nova for the agenda | The IRB chair decides the reclassification | | Withdrawals and meeting change | Withdrawn protocols leave the agenda, and a moved meeting gets a new event | Nova | The coordinator approves the event and the notices | | Close-out | Counts by review path come from the current SharePoint rows | Fin, checked by Ada | The IRB chair signs the cycle | Stages of a monthly IRB intake cycle. Protocol numbers, dates and counts in this example are illustrative. ## When an investigator, a study or the board date changes Mid-cycle changes are usually narrow. The compliance specialist confirms that one investigator has renewed training, which should clear exactly the protocols where that person is listed. Two study teams withdraw. The chair reclassifies an expedited study to full board after reading its risk section. Fin re-sorts only the protocols each change names, so a study that was already approved does not move because a neighbor did. The meeting date touches the most. When the December board moves from the 3rd to the 10th, Nova proposes the new event, the agenda change and one notice per affected investigator in the thread. The coordinator approves, Nova creates the new event, and the coordinator cancels the old one so no one keeps two dates. Ada then re-checks the worksheet lines that point at the meeting. ## What the checks catch - Training records mixed in with protocol rows, because both lists live on the same SharePoint site - A training renewal that re-sorts every protocol instead of only those that list the renewed investigator - A consent document in Box whose version does not match the protocol version under review - A moved meeting that leaves the old calendar event beside the new one - A withdrawn protocol still on the board agenda or counted at close-out ## What stays with people - Approving every review path before SharePoint is updated - Reclassifying a study and every judgment about risk, which stay with the chair and the board - Every notice to an investigator, which Nova drafts in Gmail and the coordinator sends - Signing the cycle close-out ## Integrations in this workflow Kylon is not an IRB submission system and it does not replace one. It sits across the tools the IRB office already uses and keeps the coordination between them. - Box - [Gmail](https://kylon.io/integrations/gmail) - Google Calendar - Google Drive - SharePoint - [Slack](https://kylon.io/integrations/slack) - **SharePoint** holds the protocol submissions list and the investigator training list - **Box** holds the consent documents filed with each protocol, read as evidence only - **Google Calendar** carries the convened board meetings - **Gmail** carries returns and meeting notices to investigators, each one a draft the coordinator sends - **Google Drive** keeps the review policy and the coordinator's worksheet - **Slack** is where study teams outside the room ask about status and report withdrawals ## Where to start Take one month of submissions. Connect the SharePoint site that holds your protocol and training lists, point the room at the Box folders for those protocols, and write the one rule in the room guidelines: an agent may propose a review path, and the coordinator approves every one before a row or the calendar changes. ## Set it up with your agent Open a new Room, add your agent and paste this prompt. It connects the tools, builds the App with you and asks for your rules one step at a time, and nothing goes out until a person approves it. Set-up prompt Set up our IRB protocol review desk in this Room. Take it one step at a time and wait for my OK before you move on. 1. Connect SharePoint, Box, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Gmail and Slack. Tell me which ones still need connecting. 2. Ask me who works this desk: the IRB coordinator, the IRB chair and the research compliance specialist. Help me invite them to this Room. 3. Build a Protocol Review App with Protocol, Review path, Meeting and Status columns, one record per submission. Fill it from the protocol list and the training list on SharePoint and the consent documents in each protocol's Box folder. 4. Read each submission's consent documents in Box and each investigator's training record in SharePoint. Propose a review path for each submission using our policy in Google Drive. Show me every line where a consent version does not match the protocol version, where a training record has lapsed, or where a re-sort would reach protocols beyond those listing the changed investigator. 5. Draft investigator notices as Gmail drafts and propose board meeting event changes in Google Calendar. The IRB coordinator approves every notice before it is sent and every calendar event before it changes. The IRB chair decides every reclassification and every question of risk. 6. Write into this Room's guideline that the coordinator approves every review path before any SharePoint row or calendar event changes, and list who approves each action, so every new intake cycle follows the same order. 7. After one clean intake cycle, offer to turn the screening and worksheet check into an Automation. Before you start, ask me for our rules one at a time. [Get started](https://app.kylon.io/sign-up) Your first company harness. Where humans and agents run your business together. [Get started](https://app.kylon.io/sign-up) ## More Use Cases [View all](https://kylon.io/use-cases) [ ### Clinical Site Monitoring: A Monthly Visit Plan That Holds Up When Things Change Site dispositions, monitor assignments, schedule reviews and mid-cycle changes run through one Kylon room. Agents work the Salesforce and Box records, and the desk lead approves every assignment before a visit is booked. 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