Dr. Celia B. Fisher & Co-PI awarded $1.9 million grant to examine the ethics in HIV prevention research involving LGBT youth

Fordham University Center for Ethics Education Director Dr. Celia B. Fisher and her co-PI Dr. Brian Mustanski (Northwestern University) have received a 4-year grant for $1,918,206.00 from the National Institute on Minority Health Disparities (NIMHD) on Ethics in HIV Prevention Research Involving LGBT Youth (1R01MD009561-01).

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth under age 18 [LGBTY] are at high risk for HIV and other negative health outcomes. However, LGBTY are often excluded from research that has the potential to improve their health – particularly their risk of HIV infection – due to lack of knowledge on how to conduct research with this population in an ethical, responsible way. In hopes of ultimately reducing LGBTYs’ barriers to participating in HIV prevention research, the goal of this grant is to assess LGBTYs’ knowledge of the risks and benefits of involvement in research related to HIV prevention, and the extent to which they are able to provide informed consent at a level equivalent to that of adults.

“We are delighted that this is the first grant on LGBT issues to be funded by the NIMHD,” Fisher commented.

Read more about Fisher and Mustanski’s work in this area in their recent article in The Hastings Center Report.

Celia B. Fisher, PhD, is the Marie Ward Doty University Chair, professor of psychology, and director of the Fordham University Center for Ethics Education and the Fordham HIV and Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Training Institute. She has served on the National Academies’ Revisions to the Common Rule for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Committee, the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections, chaired the Environmental Protection Agency’s Human Studies Review Board, and received the 2010 Health Improvement Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Human Research Protection.

Brian Mustanski, Ph.D. is Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Social Sciences at Northwestern University and directs the IMPACT LGBT Health and Development Program.  He is also a faculty member of the Fordham University HIV and Drug Abuse Prevention Research Ethics Training Institute. A central focus of his research is on the clustering of psychological, behavioral, and physical health, particularly as they relate to HIV in vulnerable populations. He has received a number of awards for his work, included being named a William T Grant Scholar and the 2011 recipient of the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contribution to LGBT Psychology from the American Psychological Association Division 44. 

Written By Fordham University Center for Ethics Education

Dr. Celia B. Fisher & Co-PI awarded $1.9 million grant to examine the ethics in HIV prevention research involving LGBT youth was originally published @ Ethics and Society and has been syndicated with permission.