•  18
    The Contribution of Empowerment to Bioethics in the Obstetric Care Context
    with Marie-Alexia Masella
    International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics 17 (1): 73-92. 2024.
    Empowerment in healthcare is becoming increasingly popular, including in obstetrics, because of its benefits for both individual health and health promotion. Many authors and organizations, such as the World Health Organization, advocate it as a means of engaging communities in the adoption of health-promoting behaviors and fostering patient-centered care. It aims to enable patients to assert their decisions and choices while respecting their personal values. This desire to respect the uniquenes…Read more
  •  47
    Strategies for consulting with the community: The cases of four large-scale genetic databases
    with J. Marshall, C. Laberge, and B. M. Knoppers
    Science and Engineering Ethics 10 (3): 457-477. 2004.
    Large-scale genetic databases are being developed in several countries around the world. However, these databases depend on public participation and acquiescence. In the past, information campaigns have been waged and little attention has been paid to dialogue. Nowadays, it is important to include the public in the development of scientific research and to encourage a free, open and useful dialogue among those involved. This paper is a review of community consultation strategies as part of four …Read more
  •  30
    Introduction to Ethics and Global Health
    with Slim Haddad, Robert Huish, and Daniel Weinstock
    BMC Medical Ethics 19 (S1): 51. 2018.
  •  15
    How to navigate the application of ethics norms in global health research: reflections based on qualitative research conducted with people with disabilities in Uganda
    with Christina Zarowsky, Kate Zinszer, Louise Ringuette, and Muriel Mac-Seing
    BMC Medical Ethics 22 (1): 1-7. 2021.
    BackgroundAs Canadian global health researchers who conducted a qualitative study with adults with and without disabilities in Uganda, we obtained ethics approval from four institutional research ethics boards (two in Canada and two in Uganda). In Canada, research ethics boards and researchers follow the research ethics norms of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (TCPS2), and the National Guidelines for Research Involving Humans as Research Participan…Read more
  •  29
    The use of Next Generation Sequencing such as Whole Genome Sequencing is a promising step towards a better understanding and treatment of neurological diseases. WGS can result into unexpected information, and information with uncertain clinical significance. In the context of a Genome Canada project on ‘Personalized Medicine in the Treatment of Epilepsy’, we intended to address these challenges surveying neurologists’ opinions about the type of results that should be returned, and their professi…Read more
  •  16
    Public Health Genomics (PHG): From Scientific Considerations to Ethical Integration
    with Yanick Farmer
    Genomics, Society and Policy 3 (3): 1-14. 2007.
    Recent advances in our understanding of the human genome have raised high hopes for the creation of personalized medicine able to predict diseases well before they occur, or that will lead to individualized and therefore more effective treatments. This possibility of a more accurate science of the prevention and surveillance of disease also illuminates the field of public health, where the translation of genomic knowledge could provide tools enhancing the capacity of public health authorities to…Read more
  •  118
    Use of next generation sequencing technologies in research and beyond: are participants with mental health disorders fully protected? (review)
    with Groisman Iris Jaitovich, Mathieu Ghislaine, and Godard Beatrice
    BMC Medical Ethics 13 (1): 36-. 2012.
    Background Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is expected to help find the elusive, causative genetic defects associated with Bipolar Disorder (BD). This article identifies the importance of NGS and further analyses the social and ethical implications of this approach when used in research projects studying BD, as well as other psychiatric ailments, with a view to ensuring the protection of research participants. Methods We performed a systematic review of studies through PubMed, followed by a man…Read more
  •  140
    Is Human Enhancement also a Personal Matter?
    with Vincent Menuz and Thierry Hurlimann
    Science and Engineering Ethics 19 (1): 161-177. 2013.
    Emerging technologies are increasingly used in an attempt to “enhance the human body and/or mind” beyond the contemporary standards that characterize human beings. Yet, such standards are deeply controversial and it is not an easy task to determine whether the application of a given technology to an individual and its outcome can be defined as a human enhancement or not. Despite much debate on its potential or actual ethical and social impacts, human enhancement is not subject to any consensual …Read more
  •  12
    Differences in Regulatory Frameworks Governing Genetic Laboratories in Four Countries
    with Anne Marie Tassé and Élodie Petit
    Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 37 (2): 351-357. 2009.
    A recent Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development survey demonstrated that an internationalization of genetic laboratory services currently emerged from the rarity of certain genetic abnormalities and from the small of laboratories performing specialized testing. When DNA samples cross national boundaries for genetic testing services to be performed in another country, the heterogeneity of national legal frameworks raises important questions regarding quality of genetic services av…Read more
  •  48
    The elusive ideal of inclusiveness: lessons from a worldwide survey of neurologists on the ethical issues raised by whole-genome sequencing
    with Thierry Hurlimann and Iris Jaitovich Groisman
    BMC Medical Ethics 18 (1): 28. 2017.
    The anticipation of ethical issues that may arise with the clinical use of genomic technologies is crucial to envision their future implementation in a manner sensitive to local contexts. Yet, populations in low- and middle-income countries are underrepresented in studies that aim to explore stakeholders’ perspectives on the use of such technologies. Within the framework of a research project entitled “Personalized medicine in the treatment of epilepsy”, we sought to increase inclusiveness by wi…Read more
  •  46
    Consenting for current genetic research: is Canadian practice adequate?
    with Iris Jaitovich Groisman and Nathalie Egalite
    BMC Medical Ethics 15 (1): 80. 2014.
    In order to ensure an adequate and ongoing protection of individuals participating in scientific research, the impacts of new biomedical technologies, such as Next Generation Sequencing , need to be assessed. In this light, a necessary reexamination of the ethical and legal structures framing research could lead to requisite changes in informed consent modalities. This would have implications for Institutional Review Boards , who bear the responsibility of guaranteeing that participants are veri…Read more
  •  21
    Consenting for Current Genetic Research: Views of Canadian Institutional Review Board Members
    with Iris Jaitovich Groisman
    Journal of Clinical Research and Bioethics 6 (4). 2015.