Human Research Ethics in Practice

The Human Research Ethics in Practice Program (HREPP) is a research program which examines the processes and practices of human research ethics.  This includes procedural ethics, or the formal human research ethics review and approval processes, as well as the practices of research ethics conducted in the field.  We are interested in the ethical considerations, decision-making and practices of both ethics committee members and researchers in the actual conduct of research.

The HREPP commenced in 2004 with a questionnaire survey examining the views of Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) members and researchers.  The findings from this project sparked further research projects, including two Australian Research Council (ARC) funded research projects: Investigating human research ethics in practice (2006-08) and Trust me - I'm a researcher: the role of trust in the human research enterprise (2010-12).

The HREPP is currently led by Associate Professor Marilys Guillemin, Associate Professor Lynn Gillam, Professor Doreen Rosenthal, and Paul Stewart.  Members of the research team have included Dr Annie Bolitho, and the current Research Officer is Hannah Walker.

We are keen to hear from potential Masters and PhD students interested in this area, together with prospective post-doctoral fellows.  Please contact Marilys Guillemin at m.guillemin@unimelb.edu.au with any queries.