Ethical Considerations in Research Collaborations

Ethical Considerations in Research Collaborations

September 22 & 23, 2011

University of Washington, Seattle

The University of Washington and Region X of the Public Health Service have been funded by the Office of Research Integrity, of the US Department of Health and Human Services to host a conference on the responsible and ethical conduct of research. This conference is hosted in collaboration with co-sponsors UW Office of Research, UW Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Children’s Hospital. The conference will be held on Sept. 22 and 23, 2011 in Meany Hall on the UW campus. The theme is “Ensuring an Ethical Foundation for Interdisciplinary Collaborations in Biomedical Research and the Provision of Public Health Services.”

Research and delivery of public health services is no longer constrained by geography, culture or resources. This conference will provide a realistic path forward for building or enhancing ethical foundations for collaborative research and public health service. Participants will take home suggested best practices, documents, educational materials, and will create new networks for industry and cross cultural collaborations.

Nationally recognized speakers from across the country will present a broad range of concepts, experiences, policy directives and best practices for developing and maintaining individual and institutional ethical foundations for research. The conference will provide suggested approaches for assuring responsiveness to the NIH, NSF and other sponsor requirements for graduate student and post-doctoral mentoring and inclusion of Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training for students and researchers.

The conference will focus on ethical challenges in three areas of research collaborations:

* University-Industry Collaboration: Building Translational Research Models
* Researcher to Researcher Collaboration: Promoting Shared Standards and Resources
* Collaboration in the International Arena: Challenges and Opportunities

Suggested Attendees: Researchers, physicians, compliance officials, educators, central and departmental research administrators, attorneys and government employees. Graduate students and post-doctoral fellows are especially encouraged to attend! Attendees should consider bringing an institutional team with them to include the Chief Compliance Officer, Director of Sponsored Programs and the Vice Provost for Research to work with the groups to identify and develop tactical methods for instituting best practices into their organizations.

The primary objectives of the conference are to:

• Discuss and produce recommendations and best practices that will promote a shared foundation for ethical interactions with industry in developing basic and translational research collaborations.

• Explore and produce a summary document of best practices that enhance the basic understanding of the legal and ethical standards for sharing of primary data and biological samples, including, maintaining and building research repositories.

• Explore the multitude of challenges involved in university/industry relationships and provide and disseminate an executive summary of the discussion of shared definitions, regulatory requirements and common practices among researchers in the public and industry sectors.

• Promote understanding of cross cultural and global ethical policies and commitments and post an executive summary of the conference session and break out materials and agreements.

• Distribute the conference materials and products throughout the region and nationally through ITHS (WWAMI), NWABR newsletters, educational materials, blogs and other electronic means, especially through vehicles such as the CTSA website.

• Encourage further exploration and dialogue on how to best promote a conscience of integrity and ethical conduct among biomedical and public health researchers and the students whom they teach and mentor

See the agenda here.

Registrants are invited to submit an original abstract that represents their field of scholarly work. Please see the “How do I submit an Abstract” FAQ and Submit an Abstract page for more information.

Graduate student and post-doctoral fellow scholarships are available for attendance at the Ethical Considerations in Research Collaborations Conference. A limited number of scholarships are available and will be awarded first to graduate students who submit an original abstract that represents their field of scholarly work AND is judged to be relevant to the conference objectives. Awardees will have their on-line registration fee reimbursed. Please see “How do I apply for a student scholarship?” FAQ and “Apply for a Scholarship” page for more information.

We hope you will join us for this exciting event!

           

The University of Washington is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation contact the Disability Services Office at least ten days in advance at: 206.543.6450/V, 206.543.6452/TTY, 206.685.7264 (FAX), or e-mail at dso@u.washington.edu