Skip to main content

Fisher Chairs NIH Continuous Special Emphasis Panel

January 20, 2022

Jill Fisher chaired the NIH Continuous Special Emphasis Panel on Societal and Ethical Issues in Research (SEIR) study section in June and December 2021 and will chair the March 2022 meeting. The Continuous Special Emphasis Panel on Societal and Ethical Issues in Research SEIR Study Section reviews applications focusing on ethical issues in human subjects’ … Read more

Translational Science: A Survey of US Biomedical Researchers’ Perspectives and Practices

December 23, 2021

This national survey aimed to identify how biomedical researchers using vertebrate animals viewed issues of significance for translational science, including oversight and public engagement, and to analyze how researcher characteristics and animal model choice correlate with those views. Responses from 1,187 researchers showed awareness of, and concerns about, problems of translation, reproducibility and rigor. Surveyed … Read more

Fisher, Walker Elected as Hastings Center Fellows

December 2, 2021

The Hastings Center recently announced the election of 24 new fellows, which include Jill A. Fisher, PhD and Rebecca L. Walker, PhD in the UNC Department of Social Medicine. The Hastings Center is pleased to announce the election of 24 new fellows. Hastings Center fellows are a group of more than 200 individuals of outstanding … Read more

Jill Fisher, Ph.D. quoted in the BMJ Investigation and interviewed for CBS 17 News.

November 4, 2021

In Paul Thacker’s article for BMJ Investigation “Covid-19: Researcher blows the whistle on data integrity issues in Pfizer’s vaccine trial,” he outlined poor practices uncovered by a whistleblower at a research company that was contracted to conduct Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine trial. In the article, questions were raised about the data’s integrity and oversight, and Dr. Fisher commented … Read more

Partnering Through It: Building a Research Base for Dual-Career Academics

August 30, 2021

Jill Fisher has recently been awarded a 3-year grant from the National Science Foundation that is focused on university hiring practices for and job market experiences of dual-career academics. With long-time research collaborator Prof. Torin Monahan, this Co-PI project will provide a comprehensive analysis of universities’ dual-career policies and practices and will generate resources for … Read more

Phase I Trial Compensation: How Much Do Healthy Volunteers Actually Earn from Clinical Trial Enrollment?

August 26, 2021

Background/aims Financial compensation for research participation is a major focus of ethical concern regarding human subject recruitment. Phase I trials are sometimes considered to be a lucrative source of income for healthy volunteers, encouraging some people to become “professional guinea pigs.” Yet, little is known about how much these clinical trials actually pay and how … Read more

Biomedical Researchers’ Perceptions of the NIH’s Sex as a Biological Variable Policy for Animal Research: Results from a U.S. National Survey

August 26, 2021

Background: In 2015, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) established a policy on sex as a biological variable (SABV) in an effort to address the overrepresentation of men and male animals in biomedical research and the lack of attention to sex-based responses to medical treatments. However, questions remain regarding how U.S. biomedical researchers perceive the … Read more

Ethical Dimensions of Peanut Allergy Immunotherapy Research

August 19, 2021

With funding from the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Jill Fisher is conducting a research study on pediatric clinical trials for food allergies, focusing primarily on peanut allergy. Using ethnographic research methods, the project investigates the on-the-ground ethical challenges that emerge in these clinical trials. In particular, the project explores how … Read more