Ethics

Collaborative global research in the genomic epidemiology of malaria presents a number of important ethical and social issues not previously encountered in combination.

In addition to their intrinsic importance, ethical and social issues, if not sensitively and appropriately addressed as research progresses, can become significant roadblocks to the successful completion of the research and its translation into important health benefits for people in developing countries. In order for these potential roadblocks to be addressed and for high ethical standards to be attained, ethical and social issues must be identified and analysed, and the lessons learnt used to inform research practice. For this reason, MalariaGEN has from the beginning placed significant emphasis on ethics and has developed a number of ethics initiatives including the establishment of an ethics team to support network members in identifying and working through practical ethical issues as they arise in the research.

The MalariaGEN ethics team assists investigators and partner institutions in identifying, analysing and responding appropriately to the ethical issues that arise before, during and after sample collection for Consortial Projects, and in sharing good practice across the network and with the wider research community.

Some ethical issues can be resolved on a case-by-case basis with support from the ethics team. In other areas the team has led the development of network policies to address specific issues. Where necessary, team members conduct novel empirical research to inform the development of appropriate responses to ethical issues arising during MalariaGEN research.