Former Panel Members
Dr. Carolyn Ells, Former Chair
Dr. Carolyn Ells is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Member of the Division of Experimental Medicine, and Member of the Biomedical Ethics Unit, McGill University. She is an Associate Researcher at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Montreal. As a philosopher with a specialization in bioethics, it was her service on university and hospital research ethics boards (REBs) that fostered her interest in research ethics. She now has a tremendous breadth of understanding of research methodologies and challenges, normative texts and their application to ethical research, resolution of challenging research ethics situations, and the realities faced by academic researchers, REBs and their institutions.
Dr. Ells’ published work on these themes appears in BMJ, Canadian Journal of Sociology, Journal of Medical Ethics, The International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics, The Qualitative Report, and elsewhere. She is a co-investigator on several healthcare-related research projects.
Her publications and policy analyses have been used by policy makers in recommending revisions to normative texts, including the World Medical Association for the Declaration of Helsinki; the Social Sciences and Humanities Working Committee of the Panel on Research Ethics for the TCPS; and the American Association for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Consent Task Force.
In addition to local research ethics teaching for graduate and post-graduate trainees, researchers and REBs, Dr Ells is co-author of a 6-module online research ethics tutorial targeting REB members and support staff within the Quebec health and social services network.
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