1. Responsible Conduct of Research Workshop
Why RCR?
Responsible Conduct of Research Workshop
Howard University
February 8, 2011

2. What is RCR? Guidelines and Regulations Plagiarism
Institutional Review Board (IRB) / Human and Animal Subjects
Ethical Reasoning / Conflict of Interest
Data Management
Authorship and Publication Practices / Collaborative Research
Mentorship
Informed Consent
Intellectual Property   

3. Why is RCR Important? Federal Regulations University Policies
Best Practices
Legal and Ethical Consequences of Noncompliance
University
Business
Individual
Society

4. What’s the right thing to do?
Examples to consider:
Michael Sandel, Justice
Henrietta Lacks and “Immortal Cells”
“Quick and Dirty” Thesis/Dissertation
“Perfect” Thesis/Dissertation

5. Michael Sandel, Justice

6. Henrietta Lacks and “Immortal Cells”
February 1, 1951, Baltimore resident Henrietta Lacks diagnosed with cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins University Hospital
February 9, 1951, radium treatment begun; another tissue sample taken and given to Dr. George Gey, head of tissue culture research at JHUH
Within days, Henrietta Lacks’s cancer cells had multiplied “like nothing anyone had seen”.

7. Henrietta Lacks and “Immortal Cells”
They were “immortal” and Dr. Gey shared them with research colleagues around world--and beyond
October 4, 1951, Henrietta Lacks died at JHU Hospital; she was 31 years old
October 4, 1951, Dr. George Gey appeared on national television and discussed the possibility that with “HeLa” cells research could find a cure for cancer

8. HeLa Cells

9. Henrietta Lacks and “Immortal Cells”
1975, Henrietta’s daughter-in-law learned from someone in a Washington, DC laboratory that the cells were still alive
HeLa cells had become standard reference cells

10. Henrietta Lacks and “Immortal Cells”
Used in research that led to Salk polio vaccine in 1950s
Cancer research
Study of HIV-AIDS
The effects of radiation and toxic substances
Gene mapping

11. Henrietta Lacks and “Immortal Cells”
Moral and Ethical Issues
Informed Consent
Not uncommon at the time that researchers did not inform subjects or patients about the nature of their investigations, or (like in the Tuskegee experiment), of their potential consequences.
Guidelines and regulations have been established to assure informed consent.

12. Henrietta Lacks and “Immortal Cells”
Moral and Ethical Issues
Compensation
What is morally or legally due to a person if something of commercial value is developed from their cells?
Unresolved issue being debated now by medical ethicists.

13. Henrietta Lacks

14. Henrietta Lacks and “Immortal Cells”
Does it matter that Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman of modest means, many of whose family members today lack health insurance?
Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Random House (2010)

15. “Quick and Dirty” Dissertation
Plagiarism is a real problem with real consequences—at Howard University and elsewhere
An outstanding Howard student submitted their application for oral defense to the Graduate School
Subsequently student’s department asked that the defense be postponed pending an investigation of plagiarism

16. “Quick and Dirty” Dissertation
Confronted with the facts the student confessed and expressed regret
The student’s advisor, committee, and departmental graduate faculty requested that he be dismissed from the Graduate School
The student was dismissed from the Graduate School and notified that he cannot return to graduate study at Howard University

17. “Perfect Dissertation”
Student at another university received PhD degree and published their research results
Other researchers could not replicate the findings
Finally it was determined that the student had falsified results in order to make their findings more dramatic
PhD degree was withdrawn

18. Why is RCR Important? Legal and Ethical Consequences of Noncompliance
University
Business
Individual
Society

19. Thank you! Charles L. Betsey, Ph.D. Interim Dean Howard University
Graduate School