Program Director/Principal Investigator (Last, First, Middle): Philpott-Jones, Sean PROJECT SUMMARY Clarkson University, in partnership with St. George's University (SGU) in Grenada and the Universidad Autnoma de Quertaro (UAQ) in Mexico, currently offers a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Fogarty International Center (FIC)-supported graduate level online/onsite certificate program to build research ethics capacity in the independent low- and middle-income countries that border the Caribbean Sea. That program, the Caribbean Research Ethics Education Initiative (CREEi) is now in its fifth year. By the end of the current funding cycle this program will have graduated 72 trainees from 17 countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Columbia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panam, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. An addition 8 trainees will complete the program by June 2019. Additionally, 17 alumni have or continue to receive additional training and education in research ethics (a Master?s of Science in Bioethics [Research Ethics]) through the Bioethics Program of Clarkson University and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Program and alumni accomplishments of note include: establishing the first bioethics center in Mexico (the Unidad de Biotica at UAQ); serving on national and international ethics commissions; taking policy positions in several government ministries and regional organizations; publishing numerous peer-reviewed papers, chapters and books on research ethics; obtaining external funding for ethics-related projects; organizing and hosting conferences and workshops on research ethics; and developing and teaching new onsite and online courses on research ethics and scientific integrity at degree-granting institutions throughout the Caribbean. The Clarkson-SGU-UAQ partnership is applying for a five-year extension to educated an additional 45 trainees, develop new two-year twelve-course Master?s in Bioethics programs at SGU and UAQ, to support the network of 72 alumni and 8 trainees in their efforts to develop and strengthen research ethics infrastructure at home, to provide additional training and capacity building activities to local stakeholders through a series of intensive onsite workshops, to support the Unidad de Biotica as a center of excellence in Mexico, and to establish the new Center for Global Bioethics as a center of excellence in Grenada. Select trainees and alumni will also have opportunities to: 1) serve as mentors for future trainees; 2) accept positions as faculty in the CREEi program; and 3) apply for small in-country research and training grants. The current program will also be changed to: 1) revise and update the curriculum in response to internal and external reviews, and to create free-standing Master?s programs at SGU and UAQ; 2) create a single bilingual training program using simultaneous translation for all courses in order to promote cross-cultural and trans-linguistic learning and new opportunities for collaboration in the region; and 3) provide additional training in policy and pedagogy so that trainees are better equipped to be research ethicists and educators, advocates for human research and animal subject protection, and institutional and national leaders in their home countries. OMB No. 0925-0001/0002 (Rev. 01/18 Approved Through 03/31/2020) Page Continuation Format Page
Philpott-Jones, Sean PROJECT NARRATIVE The rapid growth in the number of clinical trials and other research studies being conducted in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that border the Caribbean Basin illustrates the urgent need to develop research ethics capacity and infrastructure in that region. Falling to do so puts the over 270 million residents of the region at risk; their safety and rights as research subjects are likely to compromised unless there is a robust system of regulatory review and oversight. In this proposal, Clarkson University (US), St. George?s University (Grenada) and the Universidad Autnoma de Quertaro (Mexico) outline a plan that will continue their long-standing collaboration, which has already provided graduate-level education in research ethics to 72 trainees from the region, and allow them to: 1) develop a new Master?s program in research ethics; 2) educate an additional 45 trainees from across the Caribbean; and 3) provide additional research and educational opportunities in ethics that will allow program alumni to function independently or collectively as researchers, educators, and policy advocates. OMB No. 0925-0001/0002 (Rev. 01/18 Approved Through 03/31/2020) Page Continuation Format Page
| Philpott-Jones, Sean; Gefenas, Eugenijus; Macpherson, Cheryl Cox et al. (2016) Fogarty and Charge of Moral Imperialism: A Response to Hellmann et al. Arch Med Res 47:65-6 |
