Senator Strom Thurmond, R-SC, made national headlines a few years ago when the conservative legislator bucked his party's anti-abortion constituency and supported fetal tissue research. While the controversy affected millions nationwide, few Yalies are aware that Yale is a prominent center for such medical research.
Yale's decision to accept fetal tissue research proposals was closely watched in the scientific community and was the subject of thorough federal governmental review. National Right to Life and pro-choice groups have taken opposing positions in the fetal tissue research debate, which is still marked by religious controversy.
The Yale Human Investigation Committee serves as the main judicial body which approves all experimentation on humans conducted throughout the University. Richard Levine, the chair of the committee, pointed to the transplanting of fetal brain tissue to people with Parkinson's Disease as just one of the hot-button research issues that Yale has had to deal with in the last several years.
Since most of the human experimentation conducted at Yale involves new medical treatments proposed by the government, private industry, and foundations, a significant number of other research proposals brought before the committee have generated considerable controversy.
The campus community has traditionally been supportive of research efforts in controversial areas. "I think that if abortions or deaths aren't coerced then there's no reason not to support efforts to help other people by using their tissue," according to Matthew Mazur, DC '97, who is currently enrolled in the Ethics, Politics, and Economics Introduction to Ethics class. The Human Investigation Committee has mirrored the supportive atmosphere of the academic community. In fact, it has only rejected six protocols since 1969. Furthermore, most rejections have occurred due to an inability on Yale's part to facilitate the proposed research.
Even students must gain approval from the Human Investigation Committee before rushing off with their own research proposals. According to Levine, who is also a visiting lecturer in the Pharmacology Department at the Medical School, the committee ensures all experiments involving human subjects "measure up to accepted ethical and legal standards."
Paola Leone, a post-doctoral fellow in neurosurgery at the Medical School, has first-hand experience with the committee. Leone had to gain approval from the investigative body in order to proceed with an experiment to implement animal DNA into human children. The proposal Leone submitted included the "methodology, results, conclusions, and potential of the experiment," according to the biology professor. "After submitting the proposal I had to receive a ÔBioSafety' approval" to ensure she was meeting safety and legal standards, Leone said.
While most proposals considered by the Yale committee are not controversial, all proposals are closely scrutinized. The committee reviews 16 "protocols," or research proposals, every two weeks on average, according to Levine.
Leone affirmed that the committee moves cautiously in approving the experiment's of the University's professors. "If the experiment hasn't been done before, it must be put through several trials," she said.
While Levine said that most proposals are submitted by faculty and Ph.D. candidates, undergraduates are also involved in the process. "Most undergraduate proposals do not have to go through the full committee for approval, because they mostly deal with surveys," Levine said. He added that this less-complicated type of research is deemed as "non-threatening" and is thus spared the longer, rigorous process of approval to which more advanced forms of research must be subjected.
Although chances are that a Yalie will be able to begin her research after she submits her proposals to the committee, the judiciary body will often request procedural changes in the experiments. These changes frequently revolve around the amount subjects will be compensated for their participation in the experiments.
So if you think that 10 dollars for blowing into a plastic tube is such easy money that it arouses suspicion, don't worry. Only look twice if the compensation seems too low. The committee lowers the level of payment for riskier experiments to discourage participants from being blinded to the risks by the promise of cash.
Apparently, Yale's policies have worked exceptionally well over the last several decades. "Yale's committee is viewed with considerable prestige and is recognized as a leader in the world of ethical review," Levine said. "And we're very proud of that."
Copyright 1996, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
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