Nov 10, 2002 By: yunews
Nov 10, 2003 -- The Office of Research Integrity at the National Institutes of Health awarded a research grant to Margaret Gibelman, DSW, professor and doctoral program director, Wurzweiler School of Social Work. Dr. Gibelman is leading an investigation of whether, and to what extent, universities in the US educate students in the mental health disciplines in responsible research conduct. The research team includes Terry DiLorenzo, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Stern College; Nigel Bark, MD, associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Alison Link, a PhD student at Wurzweiler who is assisting in the research.
鈥淭here are consistent press reports about plagiarism, falsification, or fabrication in biomedical research,鈥 Dr. Gibelman said. 鈥淏ut we know little about research conduct in the field of mental health.鈥
The two-year project initially involves a survey of educational programs in social work, psycholo
"There are consistent press reports about plagiarism, falsification, or fabrication in biomedical research."
gy, counseling, psychiatry, and psychiatric nursing to determine whether and to what extent their curricula include content related to responsible research conduct. The second part will consist of interviews with deans and educational program directors to determine how research ethics are taught, what the obstacles are to including research training in the curriculum, and whether any models exist for teaching the appropriate conduct of research at universities.
鈥淎re we teaching faculty and students about appropriate research conduct?鈥 Dr. Gibelman asked. 鈥淯nless mental health professions are educated in ethical research behavior, there is a very real possibility that breaches will occur.鈥
Dr. Gibelman supervises doctoral student research at Wurzweiler, and is a member of the CCI, the institutional review board that reviews research protocols at 黑料社 All. She also served on a federal review panel for grants at the NIH鈥檚 Office of Research Integrity. She cited pressure on junior faculty to publish as one factor that may lead to ethical breaches in how research is conducted.
Not all studies are subject to the ethical standards of bodies such as the ORI, according to Dr. DiLorenzo, who teaches research seminars at Stern. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know whether oversight measures for research in the behavioral and social sciences are effective,鈥 she said. People outside of academic institutions or without federal funding, such as a psychologist in private practice, may not be held accountable, she said.
Most research falsifications are found accidentally at the time of publication, said Dr. Bark, supervising psychiatrist and director of the Schizophrenia Research Unit at Bronx Psychiatric Center and also a member of Yeshiva鈥檚 CCI. 鈥淏y making more people aware of the importance of research ethics,鈥 he said, 鈥渢his study will lead to a more systematic training of clinicians and researchers.鈥
