Mentored Research Project

RETI 2012 Summer Training Program Fellows and Mentors

In addition to the summer training program, fellows also receive mentoring and faculty and peer feedback on a proposal for an original study that empirically examines a key ethical issue related to the fellow’s area of HIV research. Fellows will receive a small grant of up to $18,000 for an approved mentored research project proposal. Data collection is expected to be completed at the end of year 1 and findings submitted for publication, presentations or as pilot data for a grant in year 2. Mentored projects can be designed as a supplement to a current research investigation or as a stand-alone pilot project, and all projects must include some form of participant/community involvement appropriate to the study.

The role of the primary research mentor is to guide the fellow in designing and collecting preliminary data for presentation at professional meetings and publication if appropriate, and to help the fellow incorporate this pilot data into a supplemental grant for an existing HIV prevention study, as part of a new grant focused on HIV prevention, or an independent grant on HIV research ethics.

During the summer institute, fellows are introduced to a wide range of qualitative and quantitative strategies for empirically examining ethical issues in HIV prevention research. Below are some examples of potential mentored research project study topics. For additional examples of empirical research ethics articles, please view the selected bibliography on www.hivpreventionresearchethics.org

Assessment and enhancement of participant consent capacity and culturally sensitive and respectful consent practices involving individuals with or at risk for HIV

Development and evaluation of voluntary recruitment strategies involving (a) children and adolescent when guardian protections are questionable or unavailable, (b) prisoners and parolees, and (c) women in communities with high levels of gender inequities

Influences on recruitment and HIV risk behaviors of monetary incentives, respondent driven sampling, and provision of HIV testing and health care in resource poor communities

Stakeholder perspectives on and consequences of decisions regarding confidentiality and disclosure in research involving serodiscordant couples, stigmatized populations (MSM), those at legal risk (drug users, sex workers), and the effect of human rights policies in countries in which research is conducted

Development and evaluation of strategies for ethical engagement of participants, communities, and community research workers

To view abstracts of current fellows' mentored research projects, please view our RETI Fellows page.

About the Director: Celia B. Fisher, Ph.D., is a leading scholar in research on research ethics. In addition to the RETI Institute Director, she is the Marie Ward Doty Chair and Professor of Psychology, and founding Director of the Fordham University Center for Ethics Education. She has chaired numerous federal, state and organizational ethics committees include the Environmental Protection Agency's Human Studies Review Board, Children's Research Subcommittee for the DHHS Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections, American Psychological Association’s Ethics Code Task Force and the New York State Licensing Board for Psychology. Her federally funded research programs focus on ethical issues and well-being of vulnerable populations, including ethnic minority youth and families, active drug users, college students at risk for drinking problems, and adults with impaired consent capacity.

Below is a sample of Dr. Fisher's work related to HIV prevention research ethics

Fisher, C. B. (2004). Ethics in drug abuse and related HIV risk research. Applied Developmental Science, 8(2), 91-103.

Fisher, C. B., Oransky, M., Mahadevan, M., Singer, M., Mirhej, G., & Hodge, D. (2008). Marginalized populations and drug addiction research: Realism, mistrust, and misconception. IRB: Ethics & Human Research, 30, 1-9.

Fisher, C. B., Oranksy, M., Mahadevan, M., Singer, M., Mirhej, G., & Hodge, G. D. (2009). Do drug abuse researchers have a duty to protect third parties from HIV transmission? Moral perspectives of street drug users. In D. Buchanan, C. B. Fisher, & L. Gable (Eds.), Research with high-risk populations: Balancing science, ethics, and law (pp. 189-206). Washington, DC: APA Books.

Oransky, M., Fisher, C. B., Mahadevan, M., & Singer, M. (2009). Barriers and opportunities for recruitment for nonintervention studies on HIV risk: Perspectives of street drug users. Substance Use & Misuse, 44, 1642-1659.

Fisher, C. B. (2011). Addiction research ethics and the Belmont principles: Do drug users have a different moral voice? Substance Use & Misuse, 46, 728-741.