Speaker: Emily E. Anderson, Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor of Bioethics in the Neiswanger Institute of Bioethics and Healthcare Leadership at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine

Abstract: Worldwide, wars continue, significantly impacting public health. Continuing health research is ethically imperative and critically needed to document and understand the health effects of war and to develop and test effective interventions to promote health and treat illness under extreme conditions. Yet conducting research in settings of armed conflict is both logistically and ethically challenging. This presentation will review the unique risks to and vulnerabilities of potential research participants, methodological challenges that threaten data integrity, risks to researchers, and challenges for research ethics review. Analysis of ethical issues will be informed by in-depth interviews with researchers working in conflict settings worldwide. Gaps in guidance for research in conflict settings will also be discussed as well as recommendations for supporting researchers and protecting participants. Importantly, considering the ethics of health during war yields lessons for all research in limited resource settings.

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