PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Researchers engaged in conducting genetic and genomic science are significant players in advancing biomedical science and health care. Through their work, they are a vital part of the ethical, legal, and social outcomes of science, but there is a gp in knowledge concerning how genomic scientists navigate the complex ethical, legal, and social issues related to their research.

This project is a collaborative effort of faculty from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the Departments of Human Genetics, Medical Education, the Morchand Center for Clinical Competence, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics and Gynecology. It is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of Standardized Patients (SP) in resident education about the appropriate uses and issues associated with genetic testing, and to provide residents with training in genetic history taking and pedigree analysis.

This project is a collaborative effort of faculty from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the Departments of Human Genetics, Medical Education, Community and Preventive Medicine, and The Morchand Center for Clinical Competence.

This program will serve its mission to promote responsible research in DRC and in Francophone Africa by consolidating the Center Interdisciplinaire de Bioethique pour l'Afrique Francophone (CIBAF) at the Kinshasa School of Public Health (KSPH) and by leveraging CIBAF's resources to enhance ethics capacity locally, regionally and internationally.

The overall aim of the Center for Genomics and Society (CGS) renewal plan is to carry out an integrated set of transdisciplinary research, training, and policy activities addressing ethical, legal and social Issues involved in the application of genomics to the general public. Genomic testing is already being offered to the general public in an unstudied way by direct-to-consumer companies and through other venues and the use of DNA sequencing to screen populations for preventable health risks is being discussed.

The U.S. civil rights movement took place nearly a half century ago, yet significant racial disparities persist in health and justice. The elimination of these disparities is a goal shared by many, including biomedical researchers, medical practitioners, legal scholars, and attorneys. The way in which Americans conceptualize race is more nuanced than the categorical perspective that dominated the early 20th Century. Racial discrimination is itself a health risk factor and known to vary by appearance (e.g. skin pigmentation).

Assignment of individuals to categories of race, ethnicity and ancestry impacts health and public policy, yet the practice remains both scientifically and culturally controversial. The established means of determining race and ethnicity, as commonly used for census and health questionnaires, is self-identification. However data is accumulating from social science research showing that an individual's reported ancestry is dependent on social and cultural context. At the same time, modern genetic studies have identified robust markers of ancestry.

Advances in psychiatric genetics are likely to offer major diagnostic and therapeutic benefits, but also legal and social-related risks, to individuals who were diagnosed with, or have a proclivity for, psychiatric disorders. In response, courts and policy-makers will have to ensure that psychiatric genetic data are used to promote, and not to obstruct, equality, justice, and social inclusion.

Responsible conduct of research (RCR) is an essential requirement for research training in developed countries and most academic and funding institutions require researchers to obtain such training before starting a research project Jordan is one of the more academically established countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with a high per-capita university education and progressive research agenda. It is also the hub for pharmaceutical drug development with over 20 companies generating generic drugs and exporting it to the region and globally.