Program Introduction and Overview

There is a long tradition of investigators from more developed nations collaborating with researchers in developing nations.  The ethical codes for research that guided the early investigators and their funders were those based on the dominant society.  Following the Second World War, the Nuremberg Code was developed to prevent the abuse visited upon non-consenting subjects.  Other documents - Helsinki Declaration, the International Guidelines for Biomedical Research Involving Human Subjects (CIOMS) (and later for Epidemiology Studies) - gave further definition to research ethics in the international context.  These guidelines are based on three core ethical principles: respect for persons; beneficence; and justice.

Even with these guidelines and regulations, there remain differences in the interpretation and application of these principles, especially in the context of international research.  There are many areas of conflict, two of the more recent being (a) the controversy surrounding the use of AZT in the prevention of HIV infection in the newborn and (b) the field testing of HIV vaccines. There are many others.

In response to these issues, the Program on Ethical Issues in Global Health Research (in the Department of Global Health and Population) serves as the umbrella under which a number of ethics-related educational initiatives are developed and implemented.  These include the annual summer intensive workshop at Harvard on "Ethical Issues in Global Health Research" (until 2008 called the "Ethical Issues in International Health Research" program), international short-courses, the Program website and Internet discussion list, the Research Ethics Fellowship program, and case study development.

Directors and Sponsors 

The Program director is Richard A. Cash, MD, MPH.

The Program is co-directed by Daniel Wikler, PhD.

Though today the program is a standalone program within the Harvard School of Public Health's Department of Global Health and Population (until July 2008 named the Department of Population and International Health), this program during its earliest years had been co-sponsored by:

• The Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health
• Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), India
• Peking Union Medical College

The Role of Funders: Questions

1. What roles can funders play in shaping research agendas?  What roles should they play?
2. How can funders impact regulatory bodies or mechanisms of approval?  How should they?  What responsibilities do they have, and to whom do they owe those responsibilities?
3. How can funding of research impact the dissemination of research findings?  In what ways does or could study funding impede or enhance the distribution of research results?  Can you imagine a scenario in which this conflicts with a researcher's responsibility to his or her study community?

Respond to the questions!

Or address an email to bioethics@hsphsun2.harvard.edu