A Collaborative Initiative for Research Ethics and Environmental Health
(CIREEH)
The Collaborative Initiative for Research Ethics in Environmental Health
(CIREEH) is an interdisciplinary team of public health, social science,
biomedical, behavioral and humanities researchers from Syracuse University and
four other collaborating universities. We offer short courses that focus on
ethical issues surrounding community-based research collaborations between
professional researchers and communities in the fields of environmental and
community health research. This interdisciplinary team provides unique
experience in dealing with research ethics concerns for Native American,
African-American, Hispanic, and Southeast Asian community populations in
environmental and community health research.
Short Course Description
CIREEH offers short courses for
research ethics training for community health research. In these courses, we
identify key ethical concerns in community health research and illustrate them
through case studies. We offer training on various theoretical ethical
frameworks that are relevant to community health research. Ethical
considerations with health research methodologies (epidemiology, exposure and
risk assessment, environmental and medical monitoring) are discussed in the
context of community-based environmental health research. These short course
venues include semester-long courses (see course
syllabi), as well as day-long, half-day, or seminar presentations for junior
and senior scientists and for community activists concerned with research ethics
issues. The Project team has given presentations in many national
conference/workshop venues. The Project also sponsored a national conference on research ethics in May
2003.
Course topics that have been addressed include:
- Community Research Protections in Academic and Community Collaborative
Research
- Social Responsibility of Researchers in Community-Driven Studies
- Using Rituals to Promote the Ethical Relation in Academic-Community
Partnerships
- Communication and Conflict Resolution in Research Ethics
- Native American Research Ethics in Environmental Health
- Participatory Research Methods for Improving Environmental Health Research
- Improving Exposure Assessment through Community Collaboration
- Communal Ethical Frameworks for Community Health Research
- Cultural Diversity in Research Ethics: Legitimating Cultural Knowledge and
Contexts
- Building Community Infrastructure for Equity in the Research Process
- Defining Community and Conceptualizing Community for Health Research
Case Studies/Articles and Annotated Bibliographies
The
CIREEH also produces new case studies and articles in the field of research
ethics for community health research. We also produce current annotated
bibliographies on research ethic topics. The website (www.researchethics.org)
has an extensive list of these which can be downloaded for the public.
Research Ethics: Special Problems
The collaborators of the
CIREEH also work together for special problem areas in research ethics.
Currently, we are engaged in a project on special problems for research ethics
with radiation health studies around the nuclear weapons complex with community
health concerns from radioactive contamination. In the south, we are also
working on special problem areas in developing community research ethics for
African-American communities appropriate to their specific community conditions
and to the special problems of racism in those communities.
For further information, please contact Dianne Quigley, Principal
Investigator, 501 Hall of Languages, Dept of Religion, Syracuse University,
Syracuse, NY, 13244. Tel. (315) 443-3861; diquigle@syr.edu
The Collaborative Initiative for Research Ethics and Environmental Health is funded by a grant from the National Institute of Health, National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease Grant Program for Research Ethics - T15 A149650-01
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