April 25 & 26 Conference Explores Cultural Issues in Human Medical Research

An April 25 and 26 conference on ethical issues and cultural challenges in human behavioral and medical research taps international expertise to examine these often controversial topics.

“Exploring Cultural Currents: Domestic and International Issues in Research with Human Subjects” will take place at the Warwick Wyndham Hotel. The conference is sponsored by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and by Public Responsibility in Medicine and Research, a national organization dedicated to advancing strong, ethical programs in biomedical and behavioral research.

“Critical issues in biomedical and behavioral research are complicated by cultural factors. It’s important that researchers and their staffs be sensitive to cultural contexts and their potential impacts. This conference is designed to help with that,” said conference organizer Paula Knudson, executive coordinator of the UT-Houston Health Science Center research support committees. “We will specifically be concerned with research conducted in underdeveloped countries and will have representatives from many who will aid us in conquering cultural insensitivity.”

The April 25 keynote speaker is James Lavery, Ph.D., bioethicist at the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health. He will discuss “Why Culture Matters in International Research Ethics.”

The first presentation April 26 will be “Exploitation in International Research” by Anne-Marie Moulin, M.D., Ph.D. An expert in tropical diseases and a medical historian, Moulin is an executive at the Institute of Research for Development, a Paris-based institute conducting research in developing countries.

The program includes small group workshops involving case studies, panel discussions and expert presentations.

Conference faculty include:

• Robert J. Levine, M.D., professor of medicine and director of the Law, Policy and Ethics Core at Yale University School of Medicine. He also was the founding editor of IRB: A Review of Human Subjects Research serving from 1979 to 2000 and currently chairing its editorial board.

• Melody Lin, Ph.D., deputy director, Department of Health and Human Services Office of Human Research Protection, and director of the OHRP Office of International Activities.

• Sheryl McCurdy, Ph.D., assistant professor of behavioral sciences at The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston and an expert on women’s health issues, international health, and Africa.

• Lemuel Moye, M.D., Ph.D., professor of biometry in the UT-Houston School of Public Health and an expert in the design, execution and analysis of multinational clinical trials.

• Helen McGough, director of the University of Washington’s Grant and Contract Services Office, Human Subject division.

• Mark W. Kline, M.D., professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and director of the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative.

Cost of the two-day conference is $275. For information call (713) 500-5189 or visit http://www.uth.tmc.edu/ut_general/research_acad_aff/orsc/ethics.pdf.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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