York University is hosting the annual meeting of the Southwestern Ontario chapter of the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards. The meeting brings together members of ethics boards from a variety of postsecondary and healthcare institutions engaged in research. This year’s event is titled, “Emerging Issues in Research Ethics – Issues and Answers”. The event will begin with a plenary session dedicated to framing current issues in research ethics. Following this session, there will be a series of presentations that will focus on the myriad of issues faced by ethics boards. Breakout sessions will provide a forum for thorough examination of each issue with the focus on generating action plans to address them. Afternoon sessions include a case study by Dr. Alison Miculan, senior ethics advisor, McMaster University, who will examine the ways in which McMaster’s research ethics board is dealing with the use of the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and other high risk clinical test instruments in health research. York Professor of Business Ethics, Wes Cragg, will address conference participants in a session about accountability, ethics and funded academic research. Many other informative sessions and presentations are planned and include presentations by speakers such as Margo Farren, manager of Research Ethics at the Hospital for Sick Children and David Wiesenthal, professor of psychology at York University. The conference starts with registration and a continental breakfast today at 8:30am in Room 135, Vanier College, located on York’s Keele campus. For more information, contact Alison Collins-Mrakas, manager, research ethics, York University, at ext. 55914 or by e-mail to acollins@yorku.ca.
This year’s keynote speaker will be Dr. Burleigh Trevor- Deutsch (right), associate director of Legal and Ethical Issues, at the Canadian Institute for Health Research. Trevor-Deutsch will discuss emerging issues in research ethics.
