A two-day Research Enhancement Workshop Series on Understanding Research Ethics

Prof. Rostenberghe on Tackling Research Ethically

A two-day Research Enhancement Workshop Series on Understanding Research Ethics took place from 12th to 13th July 2017. The workshop featured Professor Dr. Hans Van Rostenberghe, from the Paediatric Department of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) whose subspecialty is neonatology and his main research interests includes infection control in the NICU and neonatal jaundice. He is actively involved in postgraduate education and is a member of the conjoint board for Masters of Medicine (Paediatrics) in Malaysia.

Catered mainly for CUCMS’ academic staff and postgraduate students, this workshop was conducted to equip participants with a solid foundation in research ethics as the number of CUCMS researchers embarking on more sophisticated researches saw a constant rise.

Prof Hans’ learning based approach comprised several concepts such as Issues in Study Design, Ethics in development and testing of medical devices, Identifying Vulnerable Subjects followed by case studies and closed discussions.

The workshop was concluded with an overview of CUCMS’ Research Ethics Review Committee (CRERC) Procedures by its’ board members including Prof Krishna Gopal Rampal, Director of Centre for Graduate Studies, who discussed ethical issues in qualitative research and Associate Professor Muhammad Najib Mohamad Alwi, Director of Research Resource Centre, who addressed special issues in ethics such as informed consent, conflicts of interest and online-based research. These issues were further expanded by topics such as ownership and privacy and confidentiality by Dr Wan Rosalina Wan Rosli.

Participants were enthusiastically engaged in the interactive session and gained vast knowledge in the area of research practices and effective academic progress. The two-day workshop served as a guide for researchers to make fair, ethical justifications when conducting a research.