COREC and IRMER--is co-existence achievable?

The competitive pressures within clinical research are severe, and the need for a streamlined process to enable first-class research is self-evident. Conflict between ethical approval processes and legal requirements for the use of radiation within research has hindered such streamlining and has led to a call for action. This Commentary explores the background to this conflict and describes recent initiatives to generate a smoother process and unblock bottlenecks in relevant approval systems. It concludes by suggesting ways to improve the integration of these systems.