Thursday, November 01, 2012

Announcement: Ottawa bound. And acronyms.

I am super excited to announce that as of January 2013, I will be joining the Advisory Committee on Research Ethics (ACRE) of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), headquartered in Ottawa, Canada. 

This research award has me spending my postdoctoral term in Ottawa: operationalizing a research ethics training program for those doing human subjects research through the IDRC; compiling, analyzing, and disseminating IDRC case studies on research ethics; developing the IDRC's relationship with the Secretariat on Responsible Conduct of Research; creating an inventory of research ethics boards and practices in developing countries; and analyzing the ethical principles/standards followed in local research contexts. Amongst such a fascinating cadre of researchers who do work in the international development space, I am pleased to be working closely with people like Michael Clarke, Chair of ACRE and Director of IDRC's Global Health Policy program.

There will also be fieldwork involved in a study I am planning and conducting on gender, ICTs, health, ethics and accessibility of information in the Middle East and South Asia. This position is an amazingly good fit, given my past, present, and future research concerning these very topics of inquiry. Going forward, the ethics surrounding human subjects research is becoming even more nuanced and something that institutions are increasingly having to reckon with. In my new role, I hope to be able to tackle these issues, and play a part in the formulation of the guidelines that have, and will influence a burgeoning body of research spanning three agencies (CIHR, NSERC, SSHRC). 

With fewer than 8 weeks to go, preparations are now underway. More, as this story develops, soon. (File under: awesome).