The DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute’s Institutional Ethics Review Committee, or FIERC, was awarded Level 2 Accreditation by the Philippine Health Research Ethics Board (PHREB). The online awarding was held on July 30, 2020. The accreditation is effective July 2, 2020 until July 1, 2021.
This accreditation enables the committee to continually provide ethical clearance to DOST-FNRI research and development (R&D) projects to ensure adherence to ethical principles to safeguard the rights, safety, and well-being of its researches’ human participants. Further, through the FIERC’s careful assessment of predictable risks, burdens, and foreseeable benefits and merits of DOST-FNRI researches, the integrity and credibility of the researchers and researches will be preserved.
Several members of the FIERC underwent series of training on health research ethics, good clinical practice (GCP) and basic research ethics to further hone their skills in providing sound ethical judgement. These trainings were spearheaded by the University of the Philippines-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH), Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific (FERCAP) and PHREB.
On the other hand, selected members of the FIERC also participated in the DOST-initiated Orientation on Research Ethics. The training hopes to enable DOST project leaders and managers to better appreciate the importance of ethics in coming up with science-based R&D programs and projects involving humans and human data.
With the continuing support of the DOST-FNRI Management, the FIERC will continue to uPhold the Rights, welfare, and well-being Of human participants in DOST-FNRI REsearChes #PROTEC, especially during this trying times when studies to stop or control the spread of Corona Virus are being conducted by several groups.
Science may provide the cure to any disease but humans are not mere subjects, they are participants that need to be protected not harmed, benefitted and treated fairly.
