The UP Mindanao Research Ethics Committee (UPMinREC) was established on May 30, 2018, under Administrative Order No. SBC 2018-039. It operates as a unit under the Office of Research (OR) and is supervised by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (OVCAA).

The REC comprises 13 members from the different UP Mindanao colleges (College of Science and Mathematics, School of Management, and College of Humanities and Social Science) along with 1 community representative from Barangay Mintal, and 2 non-affiliate members from San Pedro College (SPC) and Davao Doctors' College (DDC). 

The committee's primary responsibility is to conduct independent, proficient, and prompt ethical reviews, aimed at protecting the dignity, rights, safety, and well-being of all actual or potential research participants, in line with the National Ethical Guidelines for Research Involving Human Participants, 2022.