Lecture to focus on research ethics, conflict of interest and policy-making

Sep 29, 2003

Professor Jocelyn Downie Director, Health Law Institute at Dalhousie University in Canada will give a talk on research ethics, conflicts of interest, industry, universities and policy-making tomorrow (Tuesday 30 September) as part of The Institute of Social Change & Critical Inquiry (ISCCI) Speaker Series.

Professor Downie will be drawing on her own experience as a member of the Canadian academic union's board of inquiry into the Olivieri incident at the University of Toronto and Sick Children's Hospital where research ethics, institutional responsibility and industry sponsorship of clinical trials came into clear conflict.

The Olivieri case involves issues of research ethics and academic freedom so important to the public interest that it has attracted national and international attention. It occurred in a context that quickly developed from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s of increased pressures on universities, teaching hospitals and individual researchers to seek corporate sponsorship for projects.

Public institutions were not conscious of the inadequacy of their policy infrastructures for protecting the public interest in this new environment, and policies and practices had not been changed to take into account the new circumstances.

It was possible for clinical investigators to sign contracts with industrial sponsors for research trials containing provisions that protected the sponsors' interests, but not the public interest or the safety of trial participants. This meant a dispute could arise between the ethical and legal obligations of an investigator to inform participants of unexpected risks, and the contractual right of a sponsor to insist that information on risks not be communicated and to terminate a trial without prior notice.

The academic freedom of an investigator to publish adverse findings and inform the scientific community could be at issue.

Time: Tuesday 30 September at 1.30pm

Location: Room 19.1064

For further information about Professor Downie: http://as01.ucis.dal.ca/law/hli/people.cfm

For information about the Olivieri inquiry: visit the Canadian Association of University Teacher's website:http://www.caut.ca/english/issues/acadfreedom/olivieri.asp

Media Enquiries: June Aspley, 4221 5581.

For more information, contact:

media@uow.edu.au
University of Wollongong
Ph: (02) 4221 5942; fax (02) 4221 3128