Category Archives: Call for Abstracts

Call for Proposals: Frontiers of Informed Consent

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3rd Annual Workshop in Applied Ethics

Northeastern University, Boston, MA, September 27-29, 2013 

Informed, autonomous consent is widely considered to be central to the ethics of human subjects research. However, it remains both conceptually and practically underspecified. A conceptually clear account of informed consent that is appropriate to the broad array of human subjects research, from medical to social science, has been elusive. Moreover, it has proven to be difficult to operationalize informed consent in practice. These challenges to the ethics of informed consent have been compounded by the globalization of research and rapid technological developments.

This interdisciplinary workshop will bring together practitioners and theorists at the leading edge of the ethics of informed consent to share their research and discuss the future of informed consent. The workshop is designed to be highly interactive, and to provide speakers with constructive feedback from colleagues working on related issues.

We invite the submission of abstracts (no more than 750 words) from researchers working on the theoretical and practical challenges of informed consent. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Conducting research on vulnerable populations
  • Conducting cross-cultural research
  • Conducting research in virtual environments
  • Informed consent and incidental health findings (MRI, genetic)
  • Community health research
  • Community-based participatory research and its challenges to traditional informed consent
  • Community research boards
  • Ethical issues in reporting data to participants
  • When IRBs confuse human subjects protection with research design
  • Genetic testing outside institutional contexts (e.g. mail order)
  • Theories/definitions of informed consent
  • Alternatives to informed consent for human subjects research
  • Theoretical/definitional work on informed consent and its role in human subjects research
  • Informed consent, parental/guardian responsibilities, and minors
  • Extending informed consent to nonhuman research subjects

Please email submissions (and questions) to Ronald Sandler (r.sandler@neu.edu).

The abstract submission deadline is May 1st, 2013. Abstracts will be reviewed by a program committee. Those selected for the program will be asked to submit completed papers one month prior to the workshop, and papers will be made available on the workshop website.  Papers can be of any length, but speakers will be limited to twenty-five minutes to present their ideas, followed by thirty minutes of discussion. For more information about the workshop go to http://www.northeastern.edu/ethics/. This workshop is sponsored by Northeastern’s Ethics Institute, Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute, and Department of Philosophy and Religion.

Call for Abstracts on Research Methods for Evaluating Patient Health Outcomes in Rare Diseases

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The Effective Health Care Program within the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is accepting abstract submissions for a journal supplement on research methods for evaluating patient health outcomes in rare diseases. The proposed supplement will focus on innovative patient-centered health outcomes research methodology and its application to rare diseases or drugs/devices used to treat such patients.  Topics areas of interest include:

1. Rare disease patients’ health outcomes in clinical trials, including outcomes arising from novel trial designs, such as adaptive clinical trials or n-of-1 trials

2. Emerging data sources for observational research on rare disease patients’ health outcomes, including the process of data aggregation and building disease registries or federated data networks

3. Novel analytic methods for observational research and prospective observational monitoring for rare disease patients’ health outcomes

4. Integrating stakeholder involvement in assessing rare disease patient health outcomes, particularly studies that describe or test how patient-centered health outcomes can be applied to enhance the development or evaluation of therapeutics for rare diseases

5. Economic, regulatory, ethical, legal, and social issues related to the study of rare disease health outcomes.  Authors may present empirical data or seek to collaborate in developing consensus statements outlining basic principles in these areas.

Proposals for original research articles and insightful reviews will be given highest priority.  Submissions are encouraged from authors with expertise in a broad range of study designs and from across multiple disciplines, including authors with methodological expertise in clinical trials, health outcomes studies, health services research, health policy, biostatistics, epidemiology, social science, and qualitative research.  The selected authors will be invited to submit a complete manuscript for peer-review and publication in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, a widely indexed journal with an international audience among practicing clinicians and general medical researchers. Abstract submissions are due by May 31, 2013.

More information and the submission form are available on the Effective Health Care Web site at: http://www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/index.cfm/call-for-abstracts-rare-diseases/

Effective Health Care Program
http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov

Call for Abstracts: 2013 Health Law Scholars Workshop

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The Center for Health Law Studies at Saint Louis University and the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics (ASLME) are pleased to announce the 2013 Health Law Scholars Workshop. The Health Law Scholars Workshop is a collegial forum in which junior faculty who are new to health law and bioethics scholarship present works-in-progress and receive in-depth advice from experienced scholars and teachers in the field of health law and bioethics. The workshop encourages health and bioethics scholarship, fosters the professional development of emerging scholars and furthers the sense of community among health law academics. The full brochure may be found here.

A nominating committee selects the papers to be presented at the workshop. The committee looks for papers that have an original thesis and will contribute to scholarly literature. The workshop is designed primarily to provide feedback on articles intended for spring submission to law review journals. The workshop is not designed to review published work or papers already accepted for publication.

Those interested in presenting a health law or bioethics work-in-progress at the Health Law Scholars Workshop should submit a 500-word abstract of the proposed paper together with a resumé to Cheryl Cooper ( ccoope22 at slu.edu) at Saint Louis University School of Law by April 1, 2013. Because a blind selection process is used, please do not include the author’s name or institutional affiliation on the abstract. Questions about the submission process should be directed to Prof. Sidney D. Watson at  watsons at slu.edu or 314-977-2751.

American Society for Bioethics and Humanities – Call for Proposals

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The 2013 ASBH Call for Proposals is now open. Details regarding the call can be found on the ASBH homepage  www.asbh.org). There you will find a link to the abstract submission site as well as a PDF containing the submission guidelines, including instructions for the Student Paper Competition. Abstracts will be accepted until 4:00 pm (CST), March 4, 2013.

CFP: Symposium on Blinding as a Solution to Conflicts of Interest

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When does less information result in better decisions?

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

A Multidisciplinary Symposium on Blinding as a Solution to Institutional Corruption

Symposium:  November 1-2, 2013
Proposal Deadline:  February 15, 2013

Harvard University

With the support of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, Christopher Robertson (James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona) and Aaron Kesselheim (Harvard Medical School) are organizing a multidisciplinary symposium to examine potential solutions to institutional corruption that use the strategy of concealing biasing information from decision makers.  The symposium will take place on November 1 and 2, 2013 at Harvard University.

This event is part of the Institutional Corruption Lab.  Larry Lessig (Safra Center Director and Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School) has defined ‘institutional corruption’ as the consequence of an influence within an economy of influence that illegitimately weakens the effectiveness of an institution especially by weakening the public trust of the institution.  The concept provides a more systematic approach to decision-making problems that can arise as a result of financial relationships and other conflicts of interest.

Institutional corruption may arise in many contexts, from medical research to forensic science, from political campaign finance to financial auditing.  There are many potential solutions to institutional corruption, but we are particularly interested in practical mechanisms that acknowledge the existence of potential influences, but prevent that biasing information from reaching a decision maker.  Such mechanisms may include blinding, masking, placebos, strategic ignorance, information aversion, veil of ignorance rules, blind trusts, walls of separation, or similar concepts.  We are interested in reviews of relevant literature, and new laboratory, empirical, historical, and theoretical research that explores the functions, modalities, costs, benefits, and limitations of concealing a source of information to improve decision making.   We are interested in established uses of blinding, and potential new applications.

We welcome contributions that have been previously published, as well works in progress.  We plan for this symposium to generate collaborative research opportunities, and anticipate publishing many of the presented works in an edited volume from a major academic book press or journal.

To apply, please send a one-page abstract describing your proposed contribution by February 15, 2013, as a PDF attachment, to Professors Robertson and Kesselheim ( chris.robertson at law.arizona.edu and  akesselheim at partners.org).  Include a link to or copy of your CV.  We encourage applications from newer scholars and practitioners, as well as those more established in their fields.  Travel stipends will be available for some speakers.  Please indicate whether you request such a stipend, and the likely origin of your travel.  Please also indicate whether you would be interested in publishing your contribution in the edited volume, pending further information.  The organizers also welcome preliminary inquiries about potential topics and approaches.

Here is a PDF of this Call for Proposals.  Feel free to circulate.

Today’s the Day – Abstracts Due for Petrie-Flom Center Annual Conference

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Last call! Abstracts for the Petrie-Flom Center’s annual conference – this year entitled “The Food and Drug Administration in the 21st Century” - are due today.  This one and a half day event will take place Friday and Saturday, May 3-4, 2013, at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

For further details, see the Call for Papers/Presentations.

Reminder: Abstracts for Petrie-Flom Annual Conference Due 12/14/12

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Another reminder: abstracts for the Petrie-Flom Center’s annual conference – this year entitled “The Food and Drug Administration in the 21st Century” - are due one week from today, no later than December 14, 2012.  This one and a half day event will take place Friday and Saturday, May 3-4, 2013, at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

For further details, see the Call for Papers/Presentations.

Reminder: Abstracts for Petrie-Flom Annual Conference Due 12/10/12

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Just a reminder, abstracts for the Petrie-Flom Center’s annual conference – this year entitled “The Food and Drug Administration in the 21st Century” - are due no later than December 10, 2012.  This one and a half day event will take place Friday and Saturday, May 3-4, 2013, at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

For further details, see the Call for Papers/Presentations.

Announcement – Nova Law Review Openings

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The Nova Law Review has openings in two upcoming issues and invites submissions of essays or articles. The first book with openings is the general book of the Law Review, for which the Law Review is seeking articles on any topic to fill a few holes.

The second book is a symposium issue for which the Law Review is seeking additional articles illustrating the intersection between the law and issues impacting veterans.  The Shepard Broad Law Center at Nova Southeastern University is hosting a symposium titled Wounds of War:  Meeting the Needs of Active Duty Military Personnel and Veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on February 1, 2013.  The book is intended to be a special interdisciplinary issue providing a forum for discourse between scholars and practitioners to discuss emerging issues in the field of veterans’ affairs.  Potential topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:  veterans experiencing post traumatic stress disorder, veterans’ courts as therapeutic jurisprudence, any disability treatment post-active duty, any mental therapy treatment pre- and post-duty, the psychological effects of disabilities within the military and a military member’s family, philosophical ideas on how to improve the medical and psychological treatment of active duty military or veterans, etc.

Authors are invited to submit manuscripts of no more than 50 pages including footnotes for either book.  Shorter pieces are welcome. Email submissions are preferred; the subject line should include the words “General Book” for submissions for that book and the words “VA Symposium” for submissions for that book.  Each submission should include a cover letter and a C.V. Please submit all materials by November 1, 2012 to Raul Valero, Editor-in-Chief, at  valeror at nsu.law.nova.edu or Rachel Bausch, Lead Articles Editor, at bauschr@nsu.law.nova.edu.

[cross-posted at HealthLawProf Blog]

Jurimetrics Call for Papers – Special Issue: Intersection of Law, Science, and Policy to Protect the Public’s Health

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Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science, and Technology (ASU/ABA) is seeking submissions for a special symposium issue edited by James Hodge on the Intersection of Law, Science, and Policy to Protect the Public’s Health, to be published in Spring 2013.  Potential manuscripts may include:

  1. Examinations of how and why law, policy, and science either advance (or fail to advance) the public’s health;
  2. Assessments of the role of science in furthering legal and policy objectives to protect communal health;
  3. Strategies to advance public health initiatives through law or policy despite a lack of strong, scientific support or evidence;
  4. Strategies to make better use of existing legal or policy tools to achieve public health objectives.

Unlike some symposia, this issue is not focused solely on a specific public health topic.  Rather, manuscripts may explore one or more core public health law topics like obesity prevention, chronic and infectious disease control, emergency preparedness, public health system reform, or tobacco prevention, among others, at the national or global level.

Original articles may range in length from 3,500 – 5,000 words (not including footnotes).  Contributors may include scholars or practitioners in law, public health, science, or policy.  Co-authored, cross-disciplinary manuscripts are also encouraged.

Contact James Hodge (james dot hodge dot 1 at asu dot edu) for more information, but initial brief abstracts are due to him by Friday, Sept. 28 (manuscripts will be due Nov. 15).  He’s also seeking peer reviewers.

Call for Abstracts: ACA Book

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We’ll occasionally be posting event announcements here, as well as calls for papers, etc. that are likely to be of interest to our readership.  Speaking of which, one such announcement came in today (from Fritz Allhoff in the Philosophy Department at Western Michigan University):

A few months ago, we put out a call for a special issue of Public Affair Quarterly focusing on the Affordable Care Act decision.  The response was overwhelming, and we received far more submissions than we could accommodate in a single journal issue.  We’re now expanding the project to include–in addition to the special issue of the journal–an edited volume.  If anyone is interested in participating, please submit a 500-750 word abstract to Fritz Allhoff (fallhoff@umich.edu) directly. The coverage will still be the same as the earlier call, available here: http://www.wmich.edu/medicalhumanities/files/ACA_CfA.pdf