Setting Global Standards for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation: The 2016 ISSCR Guidelines

The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) presents its 2016 Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation (ISSCR, 2016). The 2016 guidelines reflect the revision and extension of two past sets of guidelines (ISSCR, 2006; ISSCR, 2008) to address new and emerging areas of stem cell discovery and application and evolving ethical, social, and policy challenges. These guidelines provide an integrated set of principles and best practices to drive progress in basic, translational, and clinical research. The guidelines demand rigor, oversight, and transparency in all aspects of practice, providing confidence to practitioners and public alike that stem cell science can proceed efficiently and remain responsive to public and patient interests. Here, we highlight key elements and recommendations in the guidelines and summarize the recommendations and deliberations behind them.

Using the IRPA Guiding Principles on Stakeholder Engagement: putting theory into practice

The International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA) published their Guiding Principles for Radiation Protection Professionals on Stakeholder Engagement in February 2009. The publication of this document is the culmination of four years of work by the Spanish Society for Radiological Protection, the French Society of Radioprotection, the United Kingdom Society of Radiological Protection, and the IRPA organization, with full participation by the Italian Associate Society and the Nuclear Energy Agency's Committee on Radiation Protection and Public Health. The Guiding Principles provide field-tested and sound counsel to the radiation protection profession to aid it in successfully engaging with stakeholders in decision-making processes that result in mutually agreeable and sustainable decisions. Stakeholders in the radiation protection decision making process are now being recognized as a spectrum of individuals and organizations specific to the situation. It is also important to note that stakeholder engagement is not needed or advised in all decision making situations, although it has been shown to be a tool of first choice in dealing with such topics as intervention and chronic exposure situations, as well as situations that have reached an impasse using traditional approaches to decision-making. To enhance the contribution of the radiation protection profession, it is important for radiation protection professionals and their national professional societies to embrace and implement the IRPA Guiding Principles in a sustainable way by making them a cornerstone of their operations and an integral part of day-to-day activities.

The Endocrine Society's Clinical Practice Guideline on endocrine and nutritional management of the post-bariatric surgery patient: commentary from a European Perspective

Bariatric and metabolic surgery is experiencing a noteworthy increase worldwide in recent years, but protocols and consensus published in the past decade have not yet established clear evidence-based clinical recommendations. The Endocrine Society, with the participation of the European Society of Endocrinology, has promoted the creation of an expert panel to propose a clinical practice guideline for postoperative management of patients, candidates to bariatric surgery, that places a particular emphasis on evidence-based medical aspects. The main arguments reflected in those recommendations are set out in this article and are subject to analysis and discussion from the specific viewpoint of the current European experience.

[The pharmaceutical industry in the industrial chemical group: the National Union of Chemical-Pharmaceutical Laboratories (1919-1936)]

The pharmaceutical industry associations, as it happened with other businesses, had a significant rise during the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and II Republic. The 'Cámara Nacional de Industrias Químicas', in Barcelona, represented the national chemical industry to its ultimate assimilation by the 'Organización Sindical' in 1939. In this association, matters relating to pharmaceutical products -- which we will especially deal with in this work -- were managed by the 'Unión Nacional de Laboratorios Químico-Farmacéuticos', which defended the interests of pharmaceutical companies in the presence of government authorities, using the resources and mechanisms also managed by business pressure groups. The inclusion of industrial pharmacy in the Chemical lobby separated the pharmaceutical industry from traditional exercise and its corporate environment. this created ups and downs, conflicts of interests and finally, love and hate relationships with their colleagues of the pharmacy work placement and, of course, with the association that represented them: the 'Unión Farmacéutica Nacional'.

What does it mean to go public? The American response to Lysenkoism, reconsidered

The American response to Lysenkoism took place at a crucial moment in the evolving relationship between science and the public. Like many professional scientific organizations in the early Cold War, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) resisted involvement in political issues. In contrast to similar societies in the physical sciences, however, the geneticists' silence cannot be explained solely by the fear of financial or political repercussions. Rather, the GSA's reluctance to engage in political discussion reflected an ongoing debate within the scientific community on the proper role for professional societies in political controversy. Those geneticists who did become embroiled in the controversy did so as individuals rather than as emissaries of the profession. Geneticists H.J. Muller, L.C. Dunn, and Theodosius Dobzhansky attempted to reach the public through a variety of outlets, including books, magazines, newspapers, and the radio, but their interventions were shaped by their individual personal and political commitments. The GSA, in contrast, attempted to combat the spread of Lysenkoism with the help of a public relations firm and a Golden Jubilee celebration of the rediscovery of Mendel's laws. The messy story of the American response to the Lysenko crisis demonstrates the limits of scientists' political involvement during the early Cold War.

Appendix: Health professionals' participation in interrogations that violate national as well as international laws, a dialogue with the American Psychological Association

This appendix supplements the articles given above regarding health professionals' participation in interrogations that violate national as well as international laws.

It can't happen here - can it?

If scientific advice is to have any value, it must come from sources that are not under any obligation to any organisation, public or private. Most principal scientific organisations in Western countries have similar ideas about the importance of independence but the independence of American science is being eroded.

Presidential reflections. Past and future

Key federal health initiatives and psychology's participation in public policy are briefly reviewed. There has long been agreement that psychologists have a responsibility to affirmatively address society's pressing needs, not only in health care but in other areas that affect the well being of society. The behavioral sciences are key to the United States' science and health policy in the 21st century. The unanswered question is, Has the field matured sufficiently to establish its own programmatic agenda via the public policy process? Community health, lifestyle choices, psychologically managed pharmacological treatment, and the use of telecommunications technology in education and treatment are areas in which psychology can contribute a great deal to the development of a healthier society.

Process and procedures for dealing with misconduct: a necessity or a nightmare?

After a scientific and professional association has developed a code of ethics, it must develop a set of procedures to investigate, adjudicate, and enforce the code's provisions. The author, who is a scientist and an attorney, describes and discusses the fundamental legal principles that must be adhered to so that complaints against members can be adjudicated fairly, objectively, and with little legal risk to the association. The paper defines the concept of due process as it applies to private, non-profit associations and provides an example of how one professional and scientific association actually goes about adjudicating claims of misconduct against its members. It also informs associations about the liability risks that may confront them when they enforce a code of ethics, offers suggestions of how to manage those risks successfully, and concludes by cataloguing some of the financial burdens enforcement entails.