The NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 mandated the inclusion of women and ethnic minorities in NIH clinical research studies. By 1994, NIH had developed a set of guidelines which stated that women and members of minority groups and their subpopulations were to be included in all NIH-supported biomedical and behavioral research projects which involved human participants. There has been an increase in the numbers of non-minorities involved in the collection of data in ethnic minority populations; however, there has been little in the way of training through the development of graduate, professional or continuing education courses emerging to educate researchers about the communities they are entering.
The aim of this application is to develop two professional level campus-wide courses focused on human research participation. These courses were designed for graduate students, junior/senior level researchers and community members interested in human participant research and wishing to obtain continuing education credit. The focus of the two courses will be ethics of research participation in: (a) vulnerable populations and (b) special populations (ethnic minorities). While investigators are required to include women and ethnic minorities in federally funded studies, few continuing education, graduate or professional courses have prepared investigators to handle the complex, challenging burdens and responsibilities that arise in conducting research in these populations. Vulnerable populations include children, prisoners, the cognitively impaired, and those who exhibit diminished individual authority through circumstances, disability or illness. These courses will provide opportunities for researchers at all stages of their research careers to explore the ethics and cultural/racial/gender/class norms of research elements.
