Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

The course outcomes meet the NIH training requirements for responsible conduct of research and ethics in the context of biomedical, behavioral and public health related research.

Upon completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Identify potential sources of bias and conflict of interest in research study design and implementation.
2. Critique existing research proposals for adherence to policies regarding human subjects, live vertebrate animal subjects in research, and safe laboratory practices.
3. Describe examples of academic and industry collaborations and demonstrate collaborative research skills.
4. Explain the importance and limitations of peer review at each level of the research process.

5. Employ basic tools and practices for data acquisition and management, taking into consideration data ownership and appropriate sharing of data, when conducting a research study.

6. Describe historical examples of research misconduct and policies for handling misconduct.
7. Describe current practice in responsible authorship and publication.
8. Compose responses to case studies concerning the scientist as a responsible member of society and contemporary ethical issues in biomedical research.
9. Identify the range of health related research careers.

Students will reflect upon their own academic and career path into biomedical-, behavioral-, or public health-related research fields and will gain confidence in their ability to pursue a career in biomedical research.

Students will gain an appreciation of the culture and practice of biomedical, behavioral, and public health research, including reflection on current ethical standards that accompany human health-related research.

Weekly discussion will be led by the instructor or students, based upon readings, case studies, or literature reviews.  Students will write reflective reports, debate issues, and critique current studies. Students will design, propose, defend, peer review, and execute a pilot research project.  Students will write a final research proposal and will present findings of their pilot projects.

• Written reflection exercises based on the weekly readings. Rubrics will be used to evaluate written submissions.
• Participation and relevant contributions to guided group discussions.
• Written research proposal to be evaluated by rubric.
• Participation in peer review of research proposals.
• Poster presentation will be assessed by each faculty member for content and demonstration of mastery

• Research ethics
• Data analysis
• Information literacy
• Responsible authorship
• Collaboration
• Scientific communication
• The role of social justice in science
• Human subjects protection
• Full breadth of biomedical and health research
• Careers in research
• Safety considerations in research