The GFBR Steering Committee (SC) is pleased to announce the winner of the inaugural GFBR paper award is Paulina Tindana, University of Ghana, for her paper: ‘’It is an entrustment’: Broad consent for genomic research and biobanks in sub-Saharan Africa’.
Drawing on findings from empirical research about the role of trust in decision-making, Paulina and co-authors argue that an account of entrustment may be an appropriate way of addressing current challenges of seeking consent for biobank research in Africa. In a comprehensive paper that advances our understanding about how biobank research ought to be conducted, the authors propose a set of key points to consider that can support the proposed entrustment framework. You can read the full paper here.
Special commendation: The GFBR SC gives a special commendation to Daniel Mbuthia Waweru, KEMRI Wellcome Trust Research Programme, for his paper: ‘Kenyan health stakeholder views on individual consent, general notification and governance processes for the re-use of hospital inpatient data to support learning on healthcare systems’.
Informed by in-depth interviews with different health stakeholders on the role of information sharing and governance processes for inpatient data re-use, Daniel and his co-authors examine a range of potential data-sharing scenarios – from the straightforward to the complex. The paper charts the different stakeholders’ views and shifting ethical considerations across these scenarios. You can read the full paper here.
About the GFBR paper award: The award recognises an individual’s contribution to the field of research ethics. It aims to advance the individual’s career by disseminating their research and raising their profile within their institution, nationally and internationally. Papers should focus on research ethics in a low, lower middle and upper middle-income country contexts and relate directly to one or more recent GFBR meeting topics. The award is made every other year, with nominations for the next award open in 2022. If you would like further details please contact gfbr@wellcome.ac.uk.