Project
Director: Joseph
Matthew Mfutso-Bengo. Professor Mfutso-
Bengo will be the local Principle investigator and director responsible for coordinating the recruiting of trainees in Africa,
for all Malawi-based components of the project, and for the project’s overall
direction. He is Professor of Bioethics and Director of Malawi Bioethics
Research Unit in the College of Medicine at the University of Malawi, where
he is responsible for a 5-year curriculum in medical ethics. In addition, he
serves as Secretary of the College of Medicine’s Research and Ethics
Committee, and is a member of the Malawi National Health Sciences
Research Committee. He has published articles in African and international
journals on issues in health care and research ethics.
Principle
Investigator: Tom
Tomlinson. Professor Tomlinson will be
responsible for coordinating all Michigan State components of the project,
and for the administration of grant funding.
Dr.
Tomlinson is named Principle Investigator for this project in order to
comply with rules at Michigan State University, which require that MSU
faculty be named as PI on any grants administered through the university.
Dr.
Tomlinson is Director of the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the
Life Sciences, with more than twenty years experience teaching and writing
in health care ethics. His publications include work on definitions of death,
organ donation, aspects of the doctor-patient relationship, determinations of
competency, proxy decision-making, futile treatment, philosophical methods
in bioethics and others. He served on the IRB of the Michigan Department of
Community Health from 1985- 94, including service as its chair. He directed
the MA program in Health and Humanities from 1994-2000, and has
extensive experience developing new courses in health care ethics for
medical students, graduate students, and adult learners, including
development of web-based courses in bioethics.
Potential
Faculty Mentors
Mentors
for trainees will be selected from among the following, matching
for appropriate disciplinary backgrounds and research interests.
MSU
Mentors
Fred
Gifford, Department
of Philosophy. Dr. Gifford is Professor of
Philosophy and Faculty Associate in the Center for Ethics, Humanities and
the Life Sciences at Michigan State University. He regularly teaches courses
in bioethics and philosophy of science, and he recently taught a graduate
seminar on the ethics of research in developing nations. He developed and
teaches a study abroad program on health care ethics and development in
Costa Rica, and he developed and teaches a course on research ethics for
students in the MIRT (Minority International Research Training) program at
MSU. He has published several articles on research ethics, especially the
ethics of randomized clinical trials. He is a member of MSU's IRB, and he
has been a member of two data and safety monitoring boards at NIH.
Stephen
Esquith, Department
of Philosophy. Dr. Esquith is Professor and
Chair of the Department of Philosophy, Michigan State University. His
research has been in the areas of political philosophy, philosophy of law, and
most recently ethics and development. In the latter area, he has written
on the problem of transitional justice, and he is currently teaching a new
graduate level course that focuses on problems of poverty, hunger,
genetically modified organisms, and humanitarian intervention in developing
countries. His research in this area has included presentations at the
University of Mali in summer 2003 and he is involved in the creation of a
new National Ethics Committee in Mali. He is also offering a new study
abroad program in Mali for advanced students, and is leading a new initiative
at Michigan State University to create an interdisciplinary graduate
specialization in ethics and development.
Judith
Andre, Center for Ethics
and Humanities and Department of
Philosophy. Judith Andre is a philosopher who has been a faculty member in
the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences since 1991. She
has served on two IRBs, one for MSU, the other for the Michigan
Department of Community Health. She teaches bioethics to
undergraduates, in a course that includes issues in human subjects
research. Her research interests include formulating a middle road between
ethical relativism and a simplistic absolutism.
Howard
Brody, Center for Ethics
and Humanities and Departments of
Family Practice and Philosophy. Dr. Brody has taught bioethics for 23 years
and has numerous awards and scholarly publications. His books, The
Healer's Power and Stories of Sickness, explore themes at the interface
between bioethics and the social sciences. He was selected to serve as a
course faculty member for the program, "Ethical Issues in International
Health Research," Harvard School of Public Health, June 1999, and has
appeared twice as guest faculty for the course in research ethics taught by
the NIH Department of Clinical Bioethics. He has co- authored 3 papers with
Franklin G. Miller on research ethics, calling in particular for a reassessment
of the concept of clinical equipoise, that have important implications for
international research ethics.
James
Lindemann Nelson (Ph.D.,
Philosophy, SUNY/Buffalo 1980) is
currently Professor of Philosophy and Faculty Associate, Center for Ethics
and Humanities in the Life Sciences, at Michigan State University; past
appointments include stints at The University of Tennessee and The Hastings
Center, as well as visiting appointments at Duke University and Vassar
College, and adjunct appointments in the medical schools of the University
of Minnesota and New York University. Nelson is the author or co-author of
three books, and over one hundred published essays that have appeared in
journals in philosophy (e.g., the American Philosophical Quarterly), bioethics
(e.g., the Hastings Center Report), medicine (e.g, The New England Journal
of Medicine), and law (e.g., The Utah Law Review), as well as in books
published by such presses as Oxford, Routledge and Duke. Nelson has edited
or co-edited two books (Meaning and Medicine, Routledge 1999 and
Rationing Sanity, Georgetown, 2003) and two book series (“Reflective
Bioethics” from Routledge, and “Explorations in Bioethics and the Medical
Humanities” from Rowman and Littlefield). Current research projects include
ethical issues in living hepatic donation and the relationships between trust
and moral knowledge.
A Fellow of The Hastings
Center, Nelson will spend part of the summer of
2004 as Visiting Professor in the bioethics center at The University of
Groningen in The Netherlands.
Linda
Hunt Dr. Linda M. Hunt
is Associate Professor of Anthropology and is
jointly appointed to the Department of Anthropology and the Julian Samora
Research Institute at Michigan State University. She holds a Ph.D. in
anthropology from Harvard University. She has conducted research both
within the US and in Mexico, primarily focusing ethical issues in health care
and health research on Latino and other minority populations. She has been
particularly concerned with issues of ethnicity and health, the management
of chronic illness, the culture of biomedicine, and research ethics affecting
minority populations. In her current research she is examining how concepts
about cultural, ethnic and racial differences are manifest in health policy,
interventions, professional training and research agendas associated with the
human genome project.
Harry
Perlstadt, Department
of Sociology and Program in Bioethics,
Humanities and Society. Dr Perlstadt is a professor of sociology and director
of the Program in Bioethics, Humanities and Society. He teaches the core
course in the master's level program (HM 820 Humanistic and Social
Perspectives on Health) as well as SOC 475 Sociology of Health Care
Systems and SOC 873 Social Organization of Health and Medicine. He has
over 30 years of experience conducting evaluation research for funders
including Kellogg Foundation. NIHM, HRSA, and DHHS-CSAP on topic
including health education, care coverage and access, HIV-AIDS, and
substance abuse. Most recently he was a temporary advisory to
WHO/Europe on Environmental Health Action Plans in Europe. He has
presented papers at meetings on human research protections and the
existence of waivers. He is currently an ex officio member of the Executive
Board of the American Public Health Association and a member of the
National Council of the American Lung Association.
Terrie
Taylor, Department
of Internal Medicine. Dr. Terrie Taylor has been
involved in clinical tropical research in Malawi since 1987. She spends six
months each year at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre,
directing clinical research on severe malaria in children. During the non-
malaria season (July-December), she teaches on campus at Michigan State
University. Dr. Taylor represented the American Society of Tropical Medicine
and Hygiene before the National Bioethics Advisory Commission in 2000.
She has fostered activities related to research bioethics in Malawi and in
Michigan, and has collaborated with Prof. Mfutso- Bengu.
Gretchen
Birbeck, Department
of Neurology. Dr. Birbeck is a
Neuroepidemiologist with ~10 years of experience providing clinical care and
conducting research in rural southern Zambia. She presently serves at the
Director of the Chikankata Epilepsy Care Team in Mazabuka Zambia. As part
of her work, Dr. Birbeck has assisted two large rural health services in
developing their own Human Subjects Protection Committees that liaison
with the Ministry of Health. As an instructor at the College of Chainama
Health Sciences in Lusaka, Zambia she interacts with health sciences
students and professionals who are interested in expanding their knowledge
of the issues which arise in the conduct of research in Zambia funded by
international sources. Dr. Birbeck also works with American students
studying abroad.
Elizabeth
Bogdan-Lovis, Center
for Ethics and Humanities. Elizabeth
Bogdan-Lovis teaches health care ethics for MSU medical schools, including
a six-week medical humanities course "Pluralism in Health Care" for students
in the College of Human Medicine's Advanced Baccalaureate Learning
Experience (ABLE) program. Using intentionally provocative subject matter,
the course encourages students to consider perplexing bioethical dilemmas
by critically examining social justice issues such as those related to
international research ethics. A relevant feature of the course involves E-mail
conversations with individuals from various African countries including
theology students in Zimbabwe (1998 and 1999), medical researchers in
Malawi (2000), and, in 2001, with a group of 9 West African women
lawyers visiting MSU on a democratic networking project. This E-mail course
feature encourages students to listen carefully for multiple perspectives
when engaged in bioethics conversations.
Barbara
Sparks. Barbara Taylor
Sparks is an Assistant Professor Emeritus
in the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Division of Obstetrics and
Gynecology. She has been a provider of women’s health care as a nurse
practitioner for over twenty years. In addition to her clinical responsibilities,
she has taught a small groups of medical students in the medical ethics
course for seven years, and continues to participate in that course as an
instructor. Ms. Sparks recently participated in a panel discussion of the
ethical aspects of international research at Michigan State University. She is
well equipped to do so as she spent ten years working in Zimbabwe,
providing direct health care though the University of Zimbabwe, and a rural
mission hospital. In addition, Ms Sparks led and participated in several
research projects in Zimbabwe. In 1995 she supervised 6 minority college
students who lived in Zimbabwe for three months and joined her team
doing clinical research.. Ms Sparks has a comprehensive understanding of
the need for clinical research, the barriers to pursuing research in a
developing country and the conflicts that are often presented by differing
cultural and research approaches to international scientific investigation.
David
Wiley, Professor of
Sociology and Director, African Studies Center,
MSU. Wiley has conducted research in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya, and South
Africa, and has been engaged with university partnerships and exchanges in
Senegal, Nigeria, Mali, Ethiopia, Sudan, Tanzania, and other countries. He
has two years’ training in chiChewa/ chiNyanja, Malawi’s primary African
language. He has an enduring concern for ethics in research and research
collaboration in Africa, supported with graduate training at Yale University in
social ethics. He is the principal author of the four ethics statements for
African scholarly research and institutional partnerships - MSU Faculty
Guidelines for Scholarly and Professional Cooperation with Colleagues in
Africa, Guidelines of the African Studies Association for Ethical Conduct in
Research and Projects in Africa, He teaches graduate seminars in
International Social Science Research with major segments of field research
ethics. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Durban, SA 1995 and 2002 and a
member of the Higher Education Forum of the U.S./South Africa Bi-National
Commission. Wiley has been President, African Studies Association;
Chairperson, National Science Foundation, International Programs Advisory
Committee; Chair of International and African committees of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Sociological
Association. Currently, he is co-chairperson of the Council of Directors of
Title VI National Resource Centers. He has been Vice-Chairperson, U.S.
National Commission for UNESCO. He has been co-chair of the African
Internet Connectivity Project 1998-2003; South African National Cultural
Heritage Training and Technology Program; U.S./South Africa Higher
Education Partnerships Project of the US/SA Binational Commission; South
African-MSU Partnership for Capacity Building of Disadvantaged
Communities (ALO-USAID); and of the African e-Journals Project for
electronic publication of African scholarly journals.
Anne
Ferguson is Associate
Professor and Director of the Women and
International Development Program, does research and teaching in the
areas of development studies, gender, agricultural and environmental
change, and medical anthropology. Her early work in El Salvador in medical
anthropology focused on the impacts of multinational pharmaceutical firms’
business practices on health care provided at pharmacies, and on the
integration of these companies’ products into lay and alternative medical
practices.
In the mid-1980s Dr. Ferguson
shifted her research focus to Southern Africa
where she has studied development initiatives in the areas of agriculture,
fisheries, and water sector reform. Her research in Malawi centers on the
gendered social construction of agricultural technology and natural resource
management programs and policies and their implications for health. She
focuses on scientists, policy makers, and other development planners, as
well as villagers and other actors in development initiatives. Dr. Ferguson
has studied the social and cultural factors which underpin the maintenance of
crop bio-diversity, examining how these factors shape agricultural
technology improvement programs and nutritional well- being. Currently, her
research centers on the gender dimensions of Malawi’s new water reform
policies. How are new international agreements and understandings in the
water sector which promote governmental decentralization, stakeholder
participation, neoliberal market reforms and environmental rights translated
into national and local policies? How are these policies shaped, acted upon
and implemented at the local level? What are the impacts of these reforms
on people’s access to water? Who benefits and who loses? Much of Dr.
Ferguson’s research has been carried out in collaboration with colleagues at
M.S.U. and at the University of Malawi. Her research has been supported by
the McArthur Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, Rockefeller
Foundation, and USAID. In 2000, she received a Fulbright Hays Faculty
Research Abroad Program grant to study the gender dimensions of Malawi’s
and Zimbabwe’s water reforms. Dr. Ferguson teaches gender studies
courses with a focus on agriculture, environment, development and health.
University
of Malawi Mentors
Dr
Chiwoza Bandawe PhD,
dean of students, Social Science and
Anthropology, University of Malawi. Dr. Bandawe teaches advanced courses
in psychology, sociology and anthropology, as well as social science
research methodology.
Anthony
Muyepa, Msc
in Information Technology, University of Malawi
Prof.
Eric Borgstein,
Post graduate Dean-University of Malawi
Professor
Cameron Bowie, Professor
of Public Health, University of Malawi
Professor
Terrie Taylor, Malaria
Research Project, University of Malawi
(while resident in Malawi conducting her research projects. See above for
more information.)
Eva
Maria Mfutso Bengo,
LLM (health Care Law) University of Malawi
Dr
Newton Kumwenda, Chairman,
College of Medicine Ethics and Research
Committee and Director of Johns Hopkins Research Unit –University of
Malawi. Dr. Kumwenda is available to advise students on research project
management, IRB requirements, and ethics of HIV vaccine trials.
Prof
Kishindo, PhD (Sociology
and social research) Director of the Centre of
Social Research –University of Malawi. Prof. Kishindo has done a wide range
of social research.
Prof
Chakhaza, University
of Malawi- Anthropology and religious studies
Dr
Amori PhD., Head
of the Department of Philosophy University of Malawi.
Dr Amori- African epistemology and moral philosophy.
Dr
Agnes Chimbiri PhD,
Director, Center of Reproductive Health-
Demography
Dr
Mwapasa, PhD, Department
of Community Health University of Malawi
Prof
Molyneux, Director,
Wellcome Trust Research Unit, Blantyre, Malawi
Visiting Professor of
Research Ethics
The
project will appoint a Visiting Professor of Research Ethics, who will
be resident in Malawi for most of the term of the appointment. The visiting
professor will have the following responsibilities.
This appointment will help jump-start the production of original
African-focused research, by providing a research colleague with whom
Malawi faculty can interact and collaborate. It will also leave behind a set of
advanced courses in research ethics at the University of Malawi which can
become the basis for training upcoming students in the field. The position
also will provide a valuable point of contact between African and US scholars
working in the field, which can encourage continuing international research
collaborations.
The position also helps to fill in the faculty capacity needed at the
University of Malawi. At present, Prof. Mfutso-Bengo is the only Malawi
faculty with expertise in biomedical and research ethics, and is stretched thin
by multiple demands on his time and expertise. The addition of a second
scholar who can share some of the load will free Prof. Mfutso- Bengo to
devote sufficient time to this project.
The position will be budgeted at the Assistant Professor level.
Candidates will most likely be early career faculty, although it might be
possible to hire a more senior scholar who can take an extended sabbatical.
Candidates could come from any of a variety of disciplines, not just
philosophical bioethics.
The person will have their appointment through Michigan State, but
will be selected jointly between MSU and Malawi, with the help of the
Advisory Committee. The appointment will be for three years. The first
semester of the appointment will be spent at Michigan State, in order to
seek advice and assistance from MSU faculty on the course to be developed
in Malawi, and on the planned research project. The remainder of the
appointment will be spent at the University of Malawi.
In support of this position, funds will be provided for the following.
-
Salary
- Health insurance through MSU and the University
of Malawi
- Retirement benefits through MSU
- Travel allowance for moving to Malawi, and return
Project Secretary, University of Malawi
A half-time project secretary
will be hired at the University of Malawi to
assist Prof. Mfutso-Bengo. Roles and responsibilities include:
Advisory Committee
An
Advisory Committee will be established to oversee and assist key
components of the project. The Committee’s roles and responsibilities will
include
The committee will consist of at least 5 persons with expertise and
experience in research ethics or project administration. The majority of
committee members will be from Africa. The following individuals have
agreed to serve
-
Ezekiel Emanuel, NIH
- Prof. Duncan Ngare PhD, School of Public Health,
Moi University,
Kenya
- Dr. John Banson Barugahare PhD, Makerere University,
Kampala,
Uganda
- Godwin D. Ndossi, PhD, Acting Managing Director,
Tanzania Food
and Nutrition Centre, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Others being approached include
