The chief aims of this training program in Latin America are a) to provide in-depth education in research ethics for a cadre of researchers, academics, and health professionals;b) to contribute to capacity building and sustainable programs in research ethics in Latin America;c) to explore pressing issues and unresolved problems related to international research;d) to provide leadership in promoting ethical review of research and expert consultation to researchers and institutions;and e) to foster ongoing collaborations and networking in the Americas. Focus countries during the four-year period from 2006-2010 will be Mexico, Brazil, and Central America, since a substantial amount of NIH-funded research is carried out there. The Program Director is Florencia Luna, PhD, who directs and coordinates the Certificate of Studies in Bioethics and the bioethics project in FLACSO (Latin American University of Social Sciences) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the site of the training program. The Program Co-director is Ruth Macklin, PhD, professor of bioethics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York. The program for four long-term trainees each year consists in a four-month residency at FLACSO, during which the trainees will: participate in a week-long intensive seminar designed specifically for the program, taught by Drs. Luna and Macklin and prominent guest faculty from the U.S. and Latin America;enroll in other courses at FLACSO that will be required;attend meetings of research ethics committees in private and public hospitals in Buenos Aires;carry out a research project mentored by Dr. Macklin;and develop a plan for implementation when they return to their home institutions, supervised by Dr. Luna. The trainees will then spend a six-month period at their home institutions during which time they will enroll in a 16-week distance-learning course designed by Drs. Luna and Macklin and taught also by guest faculty. That course will be open to 16-20 applicants (short- term trainees) in addition to the four long-term trainees. Finally, the long-term trainees will complete a practicum, implementing the plan developed under the guidance of Dr. Luna. The program seeks to promote the protection of the rights and welfare of human subjects of biomedical research in a region of the developing world where an increasing amount of research is being carried out, often without sufficient background in the ethics of designing, conducting, and reviewing of such research.
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