Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Two-day International workshop on ‘Ethical Research in Clinical Trials’ will be held under the auspices of COMSTECH and UEARS from February 07-09 to address the challenges of research integrity in clinical trials in low-middle-income countries and propose the best suitable guidelines to improve the quality of research in this domain. The workshop, to be held in Cairo, Egypt, is aimed at imparting knowledge and training about research integrity and creating a network of professionals working in the field for continuous learning and exchanges.
According to an official of COMSTECH, the meeting and its workshop will help devise solutions for the challenges faced in clinical trials by low-middle-income countries.
Students, scientists, researchers, experts, healthcare managers, government officials, think tanks, health NGO’s, and policymakers from the domain of multi-center clinical trials research from across the world and global south countries can register for the workshop for physical or virtual participation.
Globally the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge enjoys a place of distinction, and the public expects to reap considerable benefit from the creative and innovative contributions of scientists.
As science becomes increasingly tangled with major social, philosophical, economic, and political issues, scientists become more accountable to the larger society of which they are a part.
Therefore, it is more important than ever that those individual scientists and their institutions periodically reassess the values, and professional practices that guide their research as well as their efforts to perform their research work with integrity.
Behind every medicine and intervention that people have ever taken, are thousands of patients who have volunteered to participate in clinical trials, which have led to many breakthroughs in disease prevention and treatment in the last few decades. Without the willingness of these individuals, many would have suffered.
The value of clinical trials depends on the quality of information produced and the relevance of the data to address public health needs. Nevertheless, there are many less-developed countries that do not have well-prepared medical infrastructure and little or no experience in conducting trials. Moreover, there is considerable heterogeneity across countries and even within each country, when it comes to health care systems. This may result in some differences in many aspects starting from the review process itself to all the other steps of conducting trials such as data monitoring and patient safety. To overcome these challenges, UEARS invited COMSTECH to engage the OIC researchers (as part of the audience) in training and development in the area of research integrity in clinical trials. About the expected outcomes of the workshop, the official informed that a draft of recommendations concerning research integrity in clinical trials will be documented through this event. The other goals include giving certification to participants concerning research integrity training in clinical trials and the distribution of statements to relevant institutions. On the first day of the workshop, COMSTECH distinguished scholar, Prof. Dr. Khalid Khan will present an introduction to the workshop while there will be three sessions on the topics including Critical appraisal of clinical trials, Ethical issues in multicenter clinical trials and Design and statistical analysis of clinical trials. On the second day of the workshop, three sessions will be held on the topics including Regulation and oversight of clinical trials, Publication of clinical trials and Presentation of recommendations for feedback and finalization. COMSTECH Distinguished Scholar, University of Granada, Professor Dr. Khalid Saeed Khan; London College, UK and UEARS Distinguished Scholar, Professor Dr. Yacoub Khalaf and UEARS Cofounder, Dr. Mohamed Fawzy are likely to be the speakers of the workshop. The intended participants can get details of the workshop through the web link: https://comstech.org/workshop-on-ethical-research/.
