Current Projects
Developing a framework for the ethical design and conduct of pragmatic randomized controlled trials
2017 - Present
To make informed decisions, patients, health providers and health system managers need reliable evidence of treatment safety, effectiveness and cost. Pragmatic randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are designed to provide such evidence by evaluating treatments in real-world conditions. But pragmatic RCTs raise difficult ethical issues that challenge researchers and research ethics committees. Our research team, comprising 25 philosophers, trialists and biostatisticians from five countries, will develop guidance for the ethical design and conduct of pragmatic RCTs.
Organ donation and transplantation ethics
2019 - present
Deceased organ donation and transplantation raise profound ethical issues. Globally, over 140 000 transplants occur annually, yet many thousands of patients die waiting for a life-saving organ. As the need for organs continues to outplace supply, it is critical to find ethical means to increase the number of organs available for transplant. Our team of ethicists, legal scholars, scientists, and practising physicians seeks to resolve ethical issues in donation and transplantation while simultaneously conducting cutting-edge empirical research to improve donation practices for the benefit of all stakeholders.
Research ethics in the COVID-19 pandemic
2020 - Present
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect globally. Hundreds of millions of people have been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus and, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, between 7 and 15 million people have died globally. The pandemic has highlighted difficult research ethics issues, including ethical issues in human challenge studies, cluster trials to evaluate public health measures, and reporting randomized controlled trials impacted by the pandemic. My research and public outreach explore each of these issues.