Establishing a Masters Program in Research Ethics at University of Belgrade School of Medicine

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With increasing numbers of biomedical research trials being conducted in Serbia, Serbian institutions need to build expertise in research ethics. This project is designed to meet that need by supporting faculty members at the University of Belgrade School of Medicine (UBSM), the leading Serbian institution for biomedical research, to develop a Masters degree program in “Research Ethics.” First, the project will help prepare a core faculty group to take the lead in establishing the Masters program. These faculty members need to build upon their prior basic training and develop advanced knowledge and skills in this subject matter. They also need to earn Masters degrees in research ethics to be credible leaders of the Masters degree program. To accomplish this goal, our program will provide Masters degree training and mentorship for faculty, and guide them in establishing their own Masters. The UBSM Masters program will also provide education in research ethics for people from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Macedonia, countries where Serbo-Croatian is also spoken. UBSM faculty members, prepared with training, mentorship, and the critical academic credential, will then be able to provide Masters degree training for others from the western Balkans. The UBSM training will enable future students to develop the requisite knowledge and skills to provide research review, education, and assure compliance with international standards for the ethical conduct of animal and human subject research at their home institutions. For the past five years, a faculty team from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), together with its partner, UBSM, has been conducting a Fogarty International Center NIH training program providing Certificate level basic research ethics education in the Balkans and Black Sea region. ISMMS is a leading U.S. medical institution, currently ranked 13th in its biomedical research funding. Participating ISMMS faculty members have significant experience conducting clinical and bioethics research. They have extensive experience in human and animal research review and are leaders in teaching the ethical conduct of research, research ethics, medical ethics, and research methods. The UBSM Masters curriculum will build upon our successful Fogarty Certificate program. The plan is comprised of two key elements: (A) mentoring UBSM Masters program faculty and (B) supporting their development and implementation of a sustainable Research Ethics Masters curriculum. Faculty development will include: enabling faculty members to complete a Masters in Research Ethics, providing skills training, co-teaching experience, practical experience with research review, consultation and guidance throughout the curriculum development and implementation process. Continuing education of the Masters program faculty will employ distance learning technology where feasible.