Bolleddula Jyothsna, Simeon Donald, Anderson Simon G, Shields Lester, Mullings Jasneth, Ossorio Pilar, Bethelmey Averell, Perkins Anna Kasafi
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
The University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.
Lancet Reg Health Am. 2022 Sep 18;15:100367. doi: 10.1016/j.lana.2022.100367. eCollection 2022 Nov.
The Caribbean has long been an under-represented geographical region in the field of genomics research. Such under-representation may result in Caribbean people being underserved by precision medicine and other public health benefits of genomics. A collaboration among regional and international researchers aims to address this issue through the H3ECaribbean project (Human Heredity, Environment, and Health in the Caribbean), which builds on the lessons and success of H3Africa. The Caribbean project aims to target issues of social justice by encouraging the inclusion of diverse Caribbean communities in genomics research. This paper explores a framework for the ethical and socially acceptable conduct of genomics research in the Caribbean, taking account of the cultural peculiarities of the region. This is done in part by exploring research ethics issues identified in indigenous communities in North America, Small Island Developing States, and similar endeavours from the African continent. The framework provides guidance for interacting with local community leaders, as well as detailing steps for obtaining informed consent of all participants. Specifically, the authors outline the methods to ensure effective interaction and enforce full transparency with study participants to combat historical neglect when working with under-represented communities in the Caribbean.
长期以来,加勒比地区在基因组学研究领域的代表性一直不足。这种代表性不足可能导致加勒比地区的人们在精准医疗和基因组学带来的其他公共卫生福利方面得不到充分服务。一个由地区和国际研究人员组成的合作团队旨在通过H3ECaribbean项目(加勒比地区的人类遗传、环境与健康)来解决这一问题,该项目借鉴了H3Africa项目的经验和成功之处。加勒比项目旨在通过鼓励将不同的加勒比社区纳入基因组学研究来解决社会正义问题。本文探讨了一个在加勒比地区进行符合伦理和社会可接受的基因组学研究的框架,同时考虑到该地区的文化特点。部分做法是通过探讨北美土著社区、小岛屿发展中国家以及非洲大陆类似研究中发现的研究伦理问题来实现的。该框架为与当地社区领袖互动提供指导,并详细说明了获得所有参与者知情同意的步骤。具体而言,作者概述了确保与研究参与者进行有效互动并保持完全透明的方法,以应对在与加勒比地区代表性不足的社区合作时长期存在的忽视问题。