Past Events

03.2024

Risk in Research

Minimal Risk Research Workshop Slides

Presenter: Christine Melton-Lopez, MS, CIP

Minimal Risk Research Captioned Video

02.2023

WOU Prisoner Research Slides

Presenter: Nyssa Towsley, MS, CI

05.2022

WOU Education Research Slides

Presenter: Nyssa Towsley, MS, CIP

Conducting research in educational settings can be difficult, considering factors such as the overlap between research and process improvement; the relationship between faculty researchers and students; nuances between K-12 and postsecondary settings; and, of course, navigating the regulatory landscape, including the IRB. Join the WOU IRB for a training session designed to help researchers prepare education research projects for IRB review!

04.17.2019

From “Do no Harm” to “Doing Good”: The Past, Present, and Future of Human Subjects Research

Please join us for a panel discussion of both the history of and contemporary issues in human subjects research. Topics will focus on the ethics of doing research with humans and how we can better understand and contextualize the many ethical issues facing those who are interested in conducting research with humans. Special emphasis is placed on moving beyond a paradigm that focuses on the minimization of harm and risk in research to one that focuses on promoting human well-being.

A series of presentations will be provided, followed by a discussion period where audience members may pose questions to a panel of experts.

Chair: Emily Vala-Haynes

Presenters: Katherine Miller, Robert Troyer, and Ethan McMahan

Discussant: Emily Lilo

Time: Wednesday, April 17th, 4:00-5:30pm

Location: RWEC 101

Support for this event is provided by: The WOU Institutional Review Board; WOU Honors Program; Program for Undergraduate Research Experiences; Student Enrichment Program

For more information, contact Ethan A. McMahan at mcmahane@mail.wou.edu

05.06.2019

Western Oregon University Institutional Review Board Distinguished Speaker Lecture

Please join us for a fascinating dive into the history and current state of human subjects research provided by the 2019 Western Oregon University Institutional Review Board’s Distinguished Speaker

Craig Klugman, Ph.D.

DePaul University

Talk Synopsis: The history of human subjects research is littered with the bodies of abused people. From the Nazi medical experiments in World War II, to the US Public Health Service syphilis experiments in Tuskegee and Guatemala, to the radiation experiments throughout the U.S, we have often experimented on the most vulnerable people in society—those who are poor, young, minority, uneducated, and who lack a political voice. Twentieth century research experimented on populations to prove that they were a different species from other people, to gain knowledge of the human body through trials that were deemed unacceptable to do on “people”, and research populations were chosen because they were convenient or easily controlled. Modern ethical guidelines for conducting human subjects research—respect of persons, beneficence, and justice—come out of the experiences of ignoring these ideas. Today all proposed experiments on humans must undergo some level of review with an institutional review board (IRB) and are required to ensure the physical and psychological safety of participants, that they have sufficient understanding to be able to volunteer as a subject, and that we do not exclude (or include) a population solely because of their race, gender, age, sex, or other characteristic. This talk will explore this troubled past and show how regulatory and procedural efforts are meant to ensure that human subjects are protected from harm, while simultaneously forwarding the search for knowledge.

Time: Monday, May 6th, 10:00-11:30am

Location: RWEC 101

Support for this event is provided by the Western Oregon University Institutional Review Board.

This event is open to the public, and refreshments will be provided.

For more information, contact the WOU IRB Chair, Ethan A. McMahan, at mcmahane@mail.wou.edu

2019 WOU IRB Distinguished Speaker – Craig Klugman, PhD