Research Ethics Consult Service

Examples of the kind of questions that the support service might assist you with include, but are not limited to, the following:

• How do you know if the consent process that you are anticipating using for your research is the most appropriate one, given special characteristics of my research population?
  
• Should you do anything about the fact that your research is controversial in the eyes of many in the public?
  
• How should you determine how far to go in your efforts to minimize the risks of your research, especially if it might compromise your ability to test your hypotheses?
  
• How can you assure that your research team is honoring the privacy of our research participants, given the access we have to confidential information?

The Research Ethics Consult Service is not a replacement for COMIRB review, nor is it an arm of COMIRB or any other university research oversight committee, such as the Committee on Research Ethics. However, like every other unit at the University, these other groups can utilize the services of the Research Ethics Consult Service.

The Research Ethics Consult Service is staffed by the Research Ethics Core of the CCTSI. Its membership is drawn from faculty of the Center for Bioethics and Humanities, campus Research Subject Advocates, as well as clinical investigators and others with significant research ethics and IRB expertise.

Although you can contact the service during any phase of your research, we encourage you to utilize this service very early in the process of study design.