Originally published on August 09, 2016
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The University of Minnesota is a research university
dedicated to the advancement of knowledge. Our research enterprise is premised
on the idea that our faculty, staff and students will pursue the truth and
allow the data to speak for itself. It also relies on researchers conducting
their work in ways that respect the rights and interests of people
participating in their studies, as well as the community in which those people
live.
As I indicated in a note to researchers this month, faculty,
staff and others have made an immense effort to strengthen human research
protections across the University. There is a great deal of that work in motion
right now, and, as part of those efforts, we are launching a University-wide
research ethics campaign, one that includes posters, digital communications,
events and other activities to promote and build awareness of the University’s
principles, policies and processes that support and require ethical research
practices.
The campaign has been developed with the input from
University of Minnesota researchers, staff and bioethicists. While it is
important that University leaders such as the Regents, President Kaler, Senior
Vice President Brooks Jackson and myself have embraced a set of core
commitments and have recognized our collective responsibility to uphold the
highest ethical standards, the creation of a more cohesive and self-reflective
culture of ethics will ultimately fall to individuals on-the-ground within our
research enterprise.
Starting in the coming academic year, the University will
provide an opportunity to discuss research ethics at an annual research ethics
symposium. The Office of the Vice President for Research is sponsoring the
first Annual Research Ethics Day to take place next spring. The Consortium on
Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences is currently
planning a morning session on that day on the challenges of informed consent.
In the afternoon, a series of trainings and workshops in individual units
coordinated by OVPR will provide learning opportunities on practical
applications and best practices in a range of related topics.
But research teams need not wait until next spring to begin
discussions about ethics — such discussions should be ongoing. We are looking
to the research community to begin conversations within labs, units,
departments and divisions about the ethics of research. I encourage you to take
a hard look at what you and your team are doing in relation to human
participants in research and to begin to discuss your work and processes in
light of the core commitments. What is going well? What could be going better
or might require help, resources or consultation?
While the University embraces and upholds the many policies,
processes and federal regulations in place to protect human participants in
research, these rules are not the whole picture.
As Susan Wolf of the Consortium points out, policies are
words; making those words a reality and creating a strong culture of ethics
often requires a shift in attitudes, sensitivities and actions. I know that
research at the University of Minnesota involving human participants is, by and
large, conducted in an ethical manner, but we can always do better. I invite
you to start and embrace a searching and ongoing dialogue around research
ethics.