Gigi McMillan: Personal Narratives in Research Ethics History

Today’s episode of More than Meets the IRB explores the research ethics field’s origin and the values behind its foundation. Given the impending implementation date of the revised Common Rule, now is an excellent time to reflect and discuss the research ethics field, the history of the IRB, and the reasons why it all started. While experience in the field research ethics abounds, no collected body of personal narratives on the subject existed prior to the launch of PRIM&R's People & Perspectives project. The website is comprised of stories from eminent members of the research field community that shed light on the genesis of the IRB and the conflicts, compromises, and passions that gave rise to the field. In this episode, we talk with Gianna McMillan, who stewarded the project and its conversations to illuminate the human narratives that coalesced to give rise to the field of research ethics and the regulations that undergird it. Gianna McMillan is the Bioethics Institute Graduate Program Coordinator at Loyola Marymount University and the content manager for PRIM&R’s People & Perspectives project.