Jonathan Kimmelman on Research Ethics and Dilemmas in Clinical Trials

July 9, 2023

In this month’s episode of the Scope of Things, host Deborah Borfitz gives you the latest news on the fallacy of a survival benefit for cancer patients participating in clinical trials, how and why federally qualified health centers are getting involved in studies, efforts to disrupt the current practice of excluding pregnant and lactating women from participation, great news about the impact of precision medicine on the outcomes of kids suffering from aggressive cancers, and more. Jonathan Kimmelman, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Ethics at McGill University, also joins Deborah to discuss current dilemmas in clinical development and how research standards are trending. Kimmelman talks about the ethical implications when trial sponsors don’t fully disclose how patient input is utilized in drug development, key policies that are necessary and would have a big impact on regulators, and what would-be participants can do to be more informed about trials.

Jonathan Kimmelman, PhD, James McGill Professor of Biomedical Ethics, McGill University
Jonathan Kimmelman, PhD, is James McGill Professor of Biomedical Ethics at McGill University. His research group, STREAM (Studies in Translation, Ethics and Medicine) uses empirical and theoretical methods to understand the ethical, policy, and scientific dynamics of developing new drugs. Kimmelman received the Maud Menten New Investigator Prize (2006), a CIHR New Investigator Award (2008), a Humboldt Bessel Award (2014), and was elected a Hastings Center Fellow (2018).  He has sat on various advisory bodies within the U.S. NHLBI and NIAID, served for four tours of duty on U.S. National Academies of Medicine committees, and chaired the International Society of Stem Cell Research Guidelines for Stem Cell Research and Clinical Translation revision task force 2015-16. His research has been covered in major media outlets, including NPR’s All Things Considered, STATNews, and Nature. Kimmelman is deputy editor at Clinical Trials, and associate editor at Med.