Core--Ethics, Policy, and Human Rights

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a revised application for the Ethics, Policy, and Human Rights Core (the Ethics Core). As the HIV epidemic evolves, and poses new challenges, research on gender, sexuality and HIV transmission raises a host of ethical and human rights issues that need to be addressed and explored with particular sensitivity. The Ethics Core will provide a program within the HIV Center for investigators to consider, learn, and investigate critical ethical, human rights and policy issues posed by the epidemic as well as broader ethical matters related to gender and human sexuality. The Core will collaborate with HIV Center-affiliated government research with human participants in the US and internationally. Further, the Core will foster empirical research on ethical and human rights dimensions of the AIDS epidemic. Finally, the Core will assess the policy and human rights implications of the Center's work. The Ethics Core will consult on ethical, policy and human rights issues with Center investigators both prior to submission of projects to the IRB and to funders and at the conclusion of all studies before dissemination of results. The Core will also undertake broad-based education on the ethics of human subject research. Specifically, we will sponsor a Research Ethics Course, a conference on techniques of informed consent, an IRB apprenticeship for postdoctoral fellows, and meetings to explore new ethical challenges that emerge. The Core will also educate IRB members regarding questions uniquely raised by research on gender, sexuality, and HIV. Twice yearly, the Core will sponsor Policy Roundtables focused on matters of broad policy and human rights significance to the Center's work. Through quarterly Core Research Seminars and collaboration with the International Core Interdisciplinary Research Methods Core, and Research Capacity Development Core, the Ethics Core will foster empirical research into the ethical, human rights, and policy issues posed by human sexuality, gender, and HIV. Will disseminate the Core's work through a Website, materials developed for educational sessions, and publications. Indicators of the Core's success will be the publication of peer-reviewed journal articles and approval of grant applications on which the Core has consulted or been involved, as objective sources of evaluation. Also, we will survey investigators and fellows yearly about their satisfaction with Core services and suggestions for improvement.