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Synopsis
Researchers into HIV/AIDS face a gamut of ethical as well as scientific challenges. By viewing the gathering of data as a reciprocal activity between researchers, participants, and their communities, the expert contributors to Case Studies in Ethics and HIV Research bring these challenges to the fore. Studies from the United States and abroad depict the ongoing balance of risks and benefits while analyzing issues that range from confidentiality and informed consent to conducting studies with minority and other marginalized populations, from dealing with government and other funding agencies to ownership of findings. The book’s 25 collaborators offer readers new templates for devising and conducting studies that are valid, meaningful, and morally sound, with critical implications for all research involving human subjects.
Twelve case studies illuminate key ethical issues in HIV research and real-world approaches to addressing them, including:
- Recruiting and selecting study participants.
- Providing proper standards of care to control groups.
- Improving researcher safety in the field.
- Special issues in conducting research: activity-identified populations (e.g., IV drug users), children, cognitively-impaired persons, multiple sites.
- Community outreach in service evaluation.
- Training the new generation of researchers.
Improved study design and methodology, and improved outcomes for participants are important steps on the way to preventing and stopping the spread of AIDS. For professionals in public health research, the collective knowledge of Case Studies in Ethics and HIV Research will help to map out the road ahead.
Doody Review Services
Reviewer:Ana Smith Iltis, PhD(Saint Louis University)
Description:This book analyzes some major ethical issues in HIV research, emphasizing research design, research on special populations, and training of researchers and community members to promote better research.
Purpose:It aims to broaden the literature on ethical issues in HIV research. The authors' goals are not only to identify the ethical issues in research, but to demonstrate the connection between ethical and scientifically sound research and to recommend practices that improve research.
Audience:The book is intended for persons engaged in HIV research as scientists, community representatives, and institutional review board members. The case studies make the book relevant and reachable. The contributors include scholars, HIV researchers, and community advocates.
Features:The first of the book's four parts describes some of the major aspects of human research regulation and ethics. The second and third parts focus on the conduct of HIV research by discussing issues regarding different types of research, such as clinical trials and observational research, and different populations, such as children and minorities. The fourth part addresses training of HIV researchers and community representatives. The second, third, and fourth parts feature case studies that illustrate the ethical issues at stake and introduce a number of complex issues that emerge in HIV research from different perspectives. Educators will find the cases helpful for classroom use. The book will help investigators, community advocates, and institutional review board members better understand their competing interests and goals.
Assessment:The use of case studies makes this a rich book that contributes to the research ethics literature. The discussion of the cases and the ethical issues each case raises give readers a better appreciation of the breadth and depth of the relevant ethical and scientific concerns. The first part of the book offers a thin introduction to research ethics that should be complemented by additional literature for readers unfamiliar with the field.