360 Degrees of human subjects protections in community-engaged research

With the introduction of the new National Institutes of Health Roadmap in 2003, there has been a growing emphasis on translational research. Translational research challenges current human subjects protections guidelines that were written in the 1970s and were focused on the protection of the individual participant in a clinical drug trial. Community engagement requires a critical examination of the range of risks that may arise when communities are both participants and partners in research, in order to promote appropriate and effective protection of human subjects as individuals and members of communities. Given that the principal investigator has ultimate responsibility for ensuring the ethical integrity of the research, researchers should be aware of the human subjects protections delineated in the federal regulations that must be fulfilled and the other entities that can help ensure human subjects protections.