Societal and Ethical Issues in Research – ZRG1 SEIR
The Continuous Special Emphasis Panel on Societal and Ethical Issues in Research Study Section reviews applications focusing on ethical issues in human subjects’ research, clinical decision making, clinical trials, and recruitment. In addition, SEIR reviews historical, policy, and philosophical inquiry about the ethical, legal, and social implications of human genetics.
The List of Reviewers lists all present, whether standing members or temporary, to provide the full scope of expertise present on that date. Lists are posted 30 days before the meeting and are tentative, pending any last minute changes.
Review Dates
Topics
- Evaluating informed consent processes, including consent capacity of populations, and strategies to improve the process of informed consent in clinical care and research studies.
- Evaluating questions about the ethics in the architecture of clinical trial study designs and its relationship to clinical care decisions and outcomes.
- Evaluating ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) in decision making by either the health care provider or the patient and family in areas such as testing for genetic diseases, end of life, transplant and organ allocation, reproductive technology, intensive care units, and emergency medicine.
- Psychosocial, ethical, and legal issues for consumers and professionals in use of new testing, diagnostic and treatment modalities (i.e., genomics, gene-editing, stem cell, and nanotechnology).
Shared Interests and Overlaps
There are shared interests between SEIR and Healthcare and Health Disparities (HHD) in applications focused on clinical care for vulnerable populations. Applications that study ethical issues in human subjects’ research, clinical issues, clinical trials, and recruitment are assigned to SEIR. Applications that address the design of or recruitment for clinical trials with a focus on exploring health disparities or disproportionate impact among vulnerable populations are assigned to HHD.
There are shared interests between SEIR and Community Influences on Health Behavior (CIHB) in policy, document analysis, and the effects of social factors on decision-making, health behavior, and outcomes. Applications that focus on ethical, legal, and social issues and their implications on human subjects research and clinical decision-making are reviewed in SEIR. Applications that focus on the effects of community-level social, cultural, and environmental factors to prevent or moderate health risks and behaviors are reviewed in CIHB.
