Dr. Maria Grace Lacanaria, the Dean of the School of Nursing in Saint Louis University, talked on ethics in health research last September 2, 2015 at
the Centennial Library. The seminar was attended by 132 undergraduate students from the School of Nursing, School of Natural Sciences, and School of Dentistry.
Dr. Lacanaria talked about the ethical considerations in data gathering and emphasized the importance of the informed consent form and rights of the participants. She emphasized the four ethical principles which are autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. People have the right to control what will happen to their bodies (autonomy), do good in every situation (beneficence), avoid causing harm to the participants (nonmaleficence), and treat each person fairly, equally and impartially (justice). Also, materials used in data gathering like tapes and video recorder should be stored in a secured place for up to 5 years. As long as the materials are sealed and the identity of the participants is secured, the researcher can keep them indefinitely.
The seminar was the start of the series of activities for students scheduled this school year.
