Annual Research Ethics Day Conference - Deepening Engagement and Equity in Research: Next Steps in Research Ethics

Michele L. Allen, MD, MS, is Endowed Chair of Health Equity Research and an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine & Community Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School. She is also the Director of the Program in Health Disparities Research and actively participates in health disparities research and scholarship. She specializes in family medicine. Dr. Allen received the Outstanding Mentor Award from the University of Minnesota Postdoctoral Association in 2015.

 

Atum Azzahir, D-Litt, is Chief Executive Officer, Chief Cultural Compliance Officer, and Elder Consultant in African Ways of Knowing at the Cultural Wellness Center. After successfully convening and leading a movement on Return to Culture and Heritage for Africans in America (1987-92), she was awarded titles of Elder, Shemsu and Mother of Communities of African People living in the United States, the Caribbean, and the African continent. Elder Azzahir completed  her Cultural Doctor of Literature (D-Litt Kemii) from the International Khepran Institute in 2007, where she examined Black life internationally and explored building sustainable cultural institutions in African communities throughout the African Diaspora. 

Paulette Baukol, MS, is the Lead Research Project Manager of the Berman Center for Outcomes & Clinical Research at Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute. She is also the Founder & CEO of INDiGO Solutions, LLC. She is Community Co-Chair of the University of Minnesota's Community Health (CEARCH) Management Council. Her research interests include Indigenous health disparities particular in relation to cancer and cancer research. She was Director of Operations for the “Spirit of EAGLES,” the only National American Indian/Alaska Native program funded by the National Cancer Institutes Community Networks Program. Paulette is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and has served as a member of the Management Council since 2020.

Katrina Claw, PhD, a member of the Diné (Navajo) tribe, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado (CU) Anschutz Medical Campus in the Division of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, School of Medicine. She is faculty with the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine and the Human Medical Genetics and Genomics Program at CU. Broadly, her research program focuses on personalizing medicine, using genetic information and biomarkers for tailored treatment, pharmacogenomics and well as understanding the ethical, cultural and social implications of genomic research with American Indian/Alaska Native and other Indigenous communities around the world. Dr. Claw is currently studying cytochrome P450 genetic variation, tobacco cessation and nicotine metabolism, evolutionary medicine, and examining the perspectives of genomic research in Native communities. Her projects use a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach and ethical framework that are inclusive of traditional and Indigenous knowledge.

Rachel Hardeman, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Professor and the Blue Cross Endowed Professor of Health and Racial Equity in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health, as well as the Director of the Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity. Dr. Hardeman is a reproductive health equity researcher using population health science and health services research to elucidate a critical and complex determinant of health inequity -- racism.

 

Judy Illes, PhDis Professor of Neurology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), UBC Distinguished University Scholar, and Director of Neuroethics Canada. Dr. Illes is a pioneer in the field of neuroethics. Her research, teaching, and outreach initiatives are devoted to ethical, legal, social, and policy challenges at the intersection of the brain sciences and biomedical ethics. She has made groundbreaking contributions to neuroethical thinking for neuroscience discovery and clinical translation across the life span. Dr. Illes was awarded the Order of Canada, the country’s highest recognition of its citizens, in 2017.
 

Jonathan Jackson, PhDis the Executive Director of the Community Access, Recruitment, and Engagement (CARE) Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. CARE investigates the impact of diversity and inclusion on the quality of research with human participants. Dr. Jackson's research focuses primarily on midlife and late-life health disparities that affect underserved populations. He has become a well-known representative to underrepresented communities in clinical research and affiliated organizations. Dr. Jackson also works as a cognitive neuroscientist and is currently investigating early detection of Alzheimer’s disease.

Melissa A. Kenney, PhD, is the Director of Research & Knowledge Initiatives and an environmental decision scientist at the Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota. She is currently addressing how to integrate scientific knowledge and societal values into policy decision-making to counter uncertainty. She has expertise in conceptual modeling and decision structuring, indicators, systems analysis, multi-attribute methods, and evaluation of decision support to address environmental policy decisions.

 

J. Michael Oakes, PhD, is the Interim Vice President for Research at the University of Minnesota. He is a Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health in the School of Public Health as well as a member of the Healthy Weight Research Center. His research focuses primarily on applied methodology, social epidemiology, and research ethics, with interests in leadership, community-engaged research, and improving public health. Dr. Oakes co-founded the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Research Leaders program.
 

Shailey Prasad, MBBS, MPH, is Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health, Carlson Chair of Global Health, and Executive Director of the University of Minnesota Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility. He has extensive experience working in underserved areas around the world, from southern India to rural Mississippi, advocating that health is critical to the overall development of an area. He has also been part of research teams in health services research and rural health and is actively involved in developing primary care in various parts of the world. He is interested in engaging systems to create sustainable changes in communities.

Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta, MPA, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Soil, Water, and Environmental Science with a joint appointment in the College of Public Health's Division of Community, Environment and Policy at the University of Arizona. Her current research goal is to build citizen science programs and low-cost environmental monitoring tools to increase public participation in environmental health research. Her work addresses critical environmental health problems identified by the community through collaborative problem-solving and scientific research.
 

Suzanne M. Rivera, PhD, MSW, is President and Professor of Public Affairs at Macalester College. She is the most recent past-Chair of the Board of Directors of PRIM&R (Public Responsibility in Medicine & Research). She is a national expert on research ethics and issues in biomedical research and science policy. She has published on the moral dimensions of informed consent, use of human specimens, and protection of research participant privacy. She is a strong advocate for social justice and is committed to inclusion and equity in research and her role as President. 
 

Francis X. Shen, JD, PhD, is a Professor of Law and McKnight Presidential Fellow at the University of Minnesota as well as an Instructor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School. His research is focused on the intersection of law and the brain sciences. He conducts empirical and interdisciplinary research focusing on law and the brain sciences, including criminal law and crime policy, and education law and policy. He co-authored the first coursebook on law and neuroscience.

 

Daniel Stewart, JD, PhD, is Deputy Director and Legal Director for the Minnesota Disability Law Center (MDLC) and is a member of the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities. He is an advocate for systemic policy change in special education and employment. He also founded the University of Minnesota Law School’s Special Education Clinic.


 

Keisha Varma, PhD,is the Associate Vice Provost for the Office of Equity & Diversity, as well as an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Minnesota. Her areas of interest include cognitive processes in science learning, scientific visualizations and student learning outcomes, and teacher knowledge development and effective teaching practices. Her research investigates the cognitive processes underlying science learning, including students' understanding of complex concepts.

 

Consuelo Hopkins Wilkins, MD, MSCI, is Professor of Medicine as well as Senior Vice President and Senior Associate Dean for Health Equity and Inclusive Excellence at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She is also the Co-Director of the Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical and Translational Science. She has pioneered methods of stakeholder engagement involving community members and patients in research across the translational spectrum. She is currently a Principal Investigator of three NIH-funded centers, all involving Vanderbilt University and enhancement of research participation and representation. She is also Director of the Engagement Core of the All of Us Research Program.

Susan M. Wolf, JD, is Regents Professor and McKnight Presidential Professor of Law, Medicine & Public Policy at the University of Minnesota. She is Chair of the University's Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment and the Life Sciences. Her research and teaching focus on health law, law and science, and bioethics. Prof. Wolf is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Susan M. Wolf, JD, is Regents Professor and McKnight Presidential Professor of Law, Medicine & Public Policy at the University of Minnesota. She is Chair of the University's Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment and the Life Sciences. Her research and teaching focus on health law, law and science, and bioethics. Prof. Wolf is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Frances Lawrenz, PhD, is Associate Vice President for Research and Wallace Professor of Teaching and Learning in the Department of Educational Psychology, which is part of the College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. She has been recognized by the American Educational Research Association, receiving the 2016 Research on Evaluation SIG Distinguished Scholar Award and by the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, with the Distinguished Contributions to Science Education through Research Award in 2014.

J. Michael Oakes, PhD, is the Interim Vice President for Research at the University of Minnesota. He is a Professor in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health in the School of Public Health as well as a member of the Healthy Weight Research Center. His research focuses primarily on applied methodology, social epidemiology, and research ethics, with interests in leadership, community-engaged research, and improving public health. Dr. Oakes co-founded the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Research Leaders program. 

Danielle Rintala, MS, directs the Risk Intelligence and Compliance Team (RIACT) in the Office of the Vice President for Research at the University of Minnesota. RIACT monitors near- and long-term research risks; conducts compliance investigations, ensuring compliance in research-associated financial transactions and research registries; and manages Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training and the Certified Approver program. Prior to joining the University of Minnesota, she was the Associate Director of Research Compliance and Biosafety Officer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Douglas Yee, MD, is Director of the Masonic Cancer Center, Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, and John H. Kersey Chair in Cancer Research at the University of Minnesota. As Director of the Cancer Center, he serves as the point person for all cancer research at the University. He is a medical oncologist with a specialty in breast cancer. His laboratory has been interested in the regulation of cancer cells by the insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and insulin. He serves as the site Principal Investigator on several clinical trials that employ experimental therapies targeted against IGF receptor and the PI3K pathway. He is Chair of the Agent Selection Committee and serves on the Executive Committee of the I-SPY2 trail, which is designed to validate investigational therapies in the neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer.

2022 Research Ethics Day Conference Advisory Committee 

Susan M. Wolf, JD

Abimbola Asojo, PhD

David Bereiter, PhD

Erinn Aspinall, MSI

Gregory Cuomo, PhD 

Milton Eder, PhD

Carolyn Fairbanks, PhD

Sarah E. Gollust, PhD

Megan R. Gunnar, PhD

Alok Gupta, PhD

Brian Herman, PhD 

David Ingbar, MD

Amy Kircher, DrPH

Joseph Konstan, PhD

Frances Lawrenz, PhD

Tucker LeBien, PhD

J. Michael Oakes, PhD

Julie K. Olson, PhD

Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH

Michael J. Sadowsky, PhD

Janet Schrunk Ericksen, PhD

Frank Symons, PhD

John E. Wagner, MD

Douglas Yee, MD

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