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Ethics webinar on Return of Results by Dr. Adamu Addissie for the GINGER fellows

October 18th 2019

Our Africa Ethics Working Group member, Dr. Adamu Addissie (MD PhD), gave a Webinar on Return of Results – Issues and Ethical considerations to the Global Initiative for Neuropsychiatric Genetics Education in Research (GINGER) fellows on 17th July. Dr. Adamu Addissie served as Co-Chair (2017-18) and Chair (2018-19) of the African Ethics Working Group (AEWG), and supports the scientific team at the Ethiopian psychiatric genetic site to address arising ethical issues.

The GINGER fellows are early-career researchers participating in a global neuropsychiatric genetics training programme, as part of the Stanley Global Collections Initiative on Neuropsychiatric Genetics in African Populations (NeuroGAP). Dr. Adamu Addissie provided these fellows with insight on the ethics of neuropsychiatric genetics, including:

  • An overview of Return of Results, including definitions, rationale, and types of results.
  • Ethical considerations of psychiatric genetics and genomics, such as respect for persons (autonomy), beneficence (non-maleficence), and justice (fairness).
  • Challenges in the ethics of neuropsychiatric genetics, including bias, resources/access, and the local context.
  • Available guidelines and resources

A question and answer session concluded the webinar which provided a valuable opportunity for the fellows to discuss the ethical issues.