Research Ethics Consultation Service

Examples of Consultation Questions

Study Development

• What if informed consent is not practical for my study?
• When is a placebo-control ethically appropriate?

Study Implementation

• Can I withdraw a participant against his/her wishes?
• What must I do if my participants need medical care or other help?

Study Analysis

• Should I tell participants about their research findings?
• What if a participant requests their data be withdrawn?

Community Engagement

• How should I negotiate disagreements with community stakeholders?
• How should I share the research data with the community?

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Ongoing Engagement

The ITHS Bioethics faculty is interested in discussing opportunities to address or evaluate ethical issues related to clinical and translational research studies that are ongoing or in development. This might involve a bioethicist as part of an interdisciplinary research team, or it could involve developing an explicit, specific aim related to an ethics issues.

In some cases, these collaborations might emerge as part of a research bioethics consultation, but are distinguished because of a prolonged, prospective engagement.

We can also provide mentorship for investigators who have an interest in bioethics, either as their primary research focus or to complement related interests. The Bioethics MA program is geared to provide the foundational tools for fellows and junior faculty who are interested in bioethics scholarship.

For further collaboration or mentorship, our faculty can refer researchers to the most appropriate UW faculty, including the 50 adjunct and affiliate faculty members in the UW Department of Bioethics and Humanities.

The ITHS research bioethics consultation team also engages with collaborators across the nation. An example of such an effort is the ROMP Ethics Study, which is exploring ethical issues in research on medical practices in collaboration with Spectrum, the Stanford University CTSA, and Providence Health System in Spokane, Washington. Another example is the Clinical Research Ethics Consultation Collaborative, which is made up of approximately 45 members affiliated with various research ethics consultation services across the United States.

Fees

There is generally no charge for research bioethics consultations.

Hourly charges can be included in grant applications for projects that anticipate the need for future consultation or collaboration. Our consulting rates are:

• $200 per hour for ITHS and ITHS-associated organizations
• $275 per hour for outside organizations

Our Consultants

Our research bioethics consultation service draw from the expertise of a team that includes the following consultants:

• Katie Porter, JD, MPH, Seattle Children’s (Director)
• Devan Duenas, MA, Seattle Children’s (Coordinator)
• Kate MacDuffie, PhD, MA, Seattle Children’s
• Holly Hoa Vo, MD, MPH, MSc, MA, Seattle Children’s
• Elliott Mark Weiss, MS, MSME, Seattle Children’s
• Benjamin S Wilfond, MD, Seattle Children’s

If you have any questions about our services, please contact REConsult@seattlechildrens.org.

Other Research Ethics Resources

• CRECC publications page
• Treuman Katz Center webpage
• UW Clinical Ethics Consultation Service
• Biomedical Research Integrity