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Division of Medical Ethics and Law

​​​​​ARESA

Postgraduate Diploma in Health Research Ethics:​ Research Assignment

​Research Assignment

Trainees will be required to complete a research assignment/paper in order to fulfill the requirements of the course. The topic can be conceptual in nature or a more empirically-grounded theme in research ethics and bioethics can be selected. Trainees will be encouraged to conduct their own empirical research, or to use previously collected data, where this is appropriate and feasible. An ARESA faculty member will approve the topic of a trainee's practicum assignment/paper, and a mentor for the assignment at the student's home institution will also be identified. Each trainee will be linked with a specific ARESA faculty mentor with expertise in the topic of choice.

Past research assignments

2015

Policy and Ethical Considerations for an Institution-Based Small Scale Biobank

Regulatory oversight of human genetic research and protection of vulnerable population participating in genomic research in Africa

Assessing Review of Research Involving Storage of Human Biological Samples: A retrospective Document Review

A critical Examination of an African Proverbial Saying as an Emerging Biomedical Principle in the Context of the AIDS Pandemic in Africa: Ethical Implications and Relation to other Bioethical Principles

Knowledge and attitude of post graduate medical students in Kenya on ethics in mental health research

Monitoring the Performance of the Swaziland Scientific and Ethics committee, using the MERETI self-assessment tool:  A critical evaluation

A critical review of health research ethical guidelines regarding consent in pediatric HIV research involving caregivers in South Africa: The legal-ethical issues

Dissemination of both primary and incidental findings in genetic studies of complex disease: ethical implications and future directions

Nurses and midwives role perception in protecting participants during clinical research

Exploring University Ethical Review Processes for International Research Partnerships

Ethical review of undergraduate research: A comparative analysis of research policies of the University of Namibia, The Polytechnic of Namibia, and the International University of Management in Namibia

A SOAR analysis as an innovative strategic framework for research ethics committees 

Perspectives of Researchers and Research Ethics Committees (RECs) in Zimbabwe on preservation of left over bio-specimens

Ethical issues surrounding the use of modern human remains for research

Monitoring approved research projects: Possibilities and challenges for the University of Botswana's Institutional Review Board

Evaluation of comprehension of an educational video about HIV Cure research among patients and caregivers from a HIV clinic in the Western Cape, South Africa and participants enrolled in an HIV acute infection study in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

2014

Ototoxic treatment: The need for informing patients

A comparative narrative of the compensation policies for research related injury in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS)

Informed Consent in Dentistry: Use of dental amalgam as a restorative material

Building Community Partnerships: Understanding Community Engagement as a Pillar for Ethical Conduct of HIV Vaccine Research in Africa

A conceptual (public health ethics) analysis of the "low carbohydrate, high fat" (Prof Noakes) diet

Ethical issues that arise when patients consult traditional healers for infertility treatment

Phronesis: beyond the research ethics committee. A critical ethical decision making skill for health researchers during community health research

An evaluation of MERETI as a self-assessment tool for research ethics review committees in developing countries

2013

Data sharing in medical research: beliefs and opinions of researchers utilising a research ethics committee in the Western Cape, South Africa

Human research ethics in health-related undergraduate programmes in the Faculty of Science, Tshwane University of Technology

Home visits in malaria and HIV prevention studies: practical and ethical experiences in Uganda (Home Visit Study Uganda) HOVU

A retrospective review of engagement of communities and formation of community advisory boards in clinical trials in Lusaka, Zambia: identification of best practices and lessons learned

Knowledge, attitudes and practice of research ethics in the recruitment of participants into medical research in Botswana

The promises and challenges of requiring insurance for injuries to research participants in clinical trials: the case of Malawi 

Data sharing in international collaborative research in Africa

A conceptual analysis of homeopathic pathogenetic trials

Ethical Priorities raised by a Research Ethics Committee in South Africa

Template for ethics review assessment tool for non-biomedical studies involving human subjects: a template for use in low and middle-income countries

2012

Is there therapeutic misconception in Phase III oncology trials in South Africa?

Pharmacogenetic informed consent at private clinical research sites in Gauteng, South Africa: research participants' views

The current relevance of equipoise: should the concept of clinical equipoise be adapted for different types of clinical trials?

Development of an assessment tool to evaluate the potential functionality of a newly established Health Research Ethics Committee (HREC) in South Africa, using modified MERETI assessment tool

Monitoring the performance of a Higher Education Institutional Health Research Ethics Committee in Gauteng, South Africa using the MERETI self-assessment tool: a critical evaluation

A lens on current documentation that guides ethics review of research involving children as participants: a document analysis of South African Research Ethics Committees

Developing standard operating procedures for biobanking at a Research Ethics Committee in Ethiopia

Is the researcher-participant relationship in clinical research a contractual relationship? 

Perspectives of members of research ethics committees in Gauteng on the ethical research complexities related to the collection, use, storage and export of biological samples in research

Investigating Ethiopian philosophy, culture & society with respect to research ethics

Advancing the ethics/science debate: An analysis of decision letters issued by an institutional research ethics committee in Uganda

Extrapolating principles of corporate governance to research ethics committees: perspectives from Zambia