Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials | Scientific Reports

Clinical Research Ethics And Equity Consultation

With the increased use of research ethics consultation services at Clinical Translational Science Awards hubs, issues related to equity are frequently emerging as investigators strive to make their research more inclusive.

Given the centrality of the principle of justice in research ethics, the NUCATS Institute has launched a new service that integrates both ethics and equity. Co-directed by Seema Shah, JD, (ethics lead) and Irene Blanco, MD, (equity lead), the Clinical Research Ethics and Equity Consultation (CREEC) Service provides advice and concrete recommendations for researchers related to, equity, and, as well as ethics.

This CREEC service offers critical support to research teams, institutional reviews boards (IRBs), and even research participants at all stages of research planning, implementation, and reporting to address challenging ethical and equity-related issues.

The goal of CREEC is to anticipate and address issues that may arise at the intersection of ethics and equity. Examples include:

Whether paying participants at lower income sites more than participants in higher income neighborhood can be ethically justified.

What post-trial obligations might arise towards participants and communities after a study is over.

This critical support to research teams, which is available at any point in the lifecycle of research, will better address challenging issues of equity and ethics.

CREEC Request

If you need assistance regarding the Clinical Research Ethics and Equity Consultation service, please email QA/QC Specialist Claire Powers.

NCI-designated Cancer Center Leader Dies

Ken Cowan, MD, PhD, a long-time leader of the Omaha-based University of Nebraska Medical Center's NCI-designated cancer center, died Dec. 15.

For 21 years, Dr. Cowan served as chief of the medical breast cancer section for the medicine branch in the Public Health Service at the National Cancer Institute, according to a Dec. 16 system news release. In the role, he oversaw lab researchers and clinical staff involved in breast cancer clinical research at NCI.

In 1999, he joined UNMC as director of the then-called Eppley Cancer Center and the Eppley Institute for Cancer Research. The NCI-designated cancer center changed its name in 2017 to the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. Dr. Cowan led the cancer center from 1999 to 2017, when he stepped down, but he remained at the institute as a full-time faculty member and clinician.

"During more than two decades as director of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Ken was instrumental in leading the cancer center to sustained research growth, advanced clinical care, and unprecedented national and international recognition," Interim UNMC Chancellor H. Dele Davies, MD, said in the news release. "He also was the visionary behind the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center facility."

Dr. Cowan is survived by his wife, Alison Freifeld, MD, professor emeritus of the UNMC division of infectious diseases, two daughters and two grandchildren.

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