Role of ethics consults for research
In the past decade, a growing number of academic medical centers have begun offering research ethics consultation services in which bioethics experts help scientists address the ethical and societal implications of their laboratory and clinical experiments.
For example, an investigator might want advice on the social and cultural ramifications of conducting genetic research among an indigenous population. But the role of these consults isn't always well understood. Many researchers believe that institutional review boards (IRBs), which must approve any research involving human subjects, will address these kinds of ethical questions. However, there are some areas of research, such as those involving animal subjects or broad social risk, that fall outside of the regulatory purview of IRBs. The consultation services can help fill this gap, in addition to giving scientists a sounding board for exploring ethical questions early in their research-design process.
A commentary1 that appears in a recent issue of Science Translational Medicine describes how the research consults can serve as a complement to IRBs. The authors outline 11 "triggers" for these types of consultations. David Magnus, PhD, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics and the Thomas A. Raffin, MD, professor in Medicine and Biomedical Ethics, Stanford (CA) University, is the lead author.
Research ethics consultation services are designed to help scientists address ethical and societal issues that might not be considered in the context of existing regulatory frameworks, such as IRBs. The commentary identifies some types of biomedical research for which the research process can benefit from consultation with ethicists.
Reference
- Havard M, Cho M, Magnus D. Triggers for research ethics consultation. Sci Transl Med 2012; 4:11-18.
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