Hopes and fears for professional movement in the stem cell community

Research on Human Embryos and Reproductive Materials: Revisiting Canadian Law and Policy

Research involving human embryos and reproductive materials, including certain forms of stem cell and genetic research, is a fast-moving area of science with demonstrated clinical relevance. Canada's current governance framework for this field of research urgently requires review and reconsideration in view of emerging applications. Based on a workshop involving ethics, legal, policy, scientific and clinical experts, we present a series of recommendations with the goal of informing and supporting health policy and decision-making regarding the governance of the field. With a pragmatic and principled governance approach, Canada can continue its global leadership in this field, as well as advance the long-term health and well-being of Canadians.

Focus on People and the Science Will Follow: Motivating Forces for Professional Movement in Stem Cell Research

The migration of researchers across geographic borders, or "brain drain" as it is commonly called, remains an important issue for governments around the world as loss or gain of highly qualified personnel in research can have substantial social, economic and political consequences. In the present study we seek to examine the forces that drive international professional migration of stem cell (SC) researchers, for which variation of SC policy in different jurisdictions has previously been implicated as a driving force. Structured interviews were carried out with a purposive sample of SC researchers in the professoriate who had made international moves after postdoctoral work between the years 2001-2014, or were actively anticipating a future move. Participants were asked to rank motivators of international movement on a 5-point Likert scale and prompted to elaborate on their answers. The results suggest that career considerations, availability of research funding, and personal considerations are of high importance to the participants when considering an international move, while the permissiveness or restrictiveness SC research policy is of comparably lower importance. Participants also expressed that international movements are beneficial to scientific careers overall. The findings have important implications for policy and strategies to attract and retain members of the SC research community.

Sharing with More Caring: Coordinating and Improving the Ethical Governance of Data and Biomaterials Obtained from Children

Introduction

Research on complex health conditions such as neurodevelopmental disorders increasingly relies on large-scale research and clinical studies that would benefit from data sharing initiatives. Organizations that share data stand to maximize the efficiency of invested research dollars, expedite research findings, minimize the burden on the patient community, and increase citation rates of publications associated with the data.

Objective

This study examined ethics and governance information on websites of databases involving neurodevelopmental disorders to determine the availability of information on key factors crucial for comprehension of, and trust and participation in such initiatives.

Methods

We identified relevant databases identified using online keyword searches. Two researchers reviewed each of the websites and identified thematic content using principles from grounded theory. The content for each organization was interrogated using the gap analysis method.

Results

Sixteen websites from data sharing organizations met our inclusion criteria. Information about types of data and tissues stored, data access requirements and procedures, and protections for confidentiality were significantly addressed by data sharing organizations. However, special considerations for minors (absent from 63%), controls to check if data and tissues are being submitted (absent from 81%), disaster recovery plans (absent from 81%), and discussions of incidental findings (absent from 88%) emerged as major gaps in thematic website content. When present, content pertaining to special considerations for youth, along with other ethics guidelines and requirements, were scattered throughout the websites or available only from associated documents accessed through live links.

Conclusion

The complexities of sharing data acquired from children and adolescents will only increase with advances in genomic and neuro science. Our findings suggest that there is a need to improve the consistency, depth and accessibility of governance and policies on which these collaborations can lean specifically for vulnerable young populations.

Dear student: stem cell scientists' advice to the next generation

For the field of pluripotent stem cell biology to realize its promising future, current researchers will need to pass the torch to new generations. We asked a group of successful scientists in this area, "What advice would you give a young person considering a career in stem cell research?"