What Makes Clinical Research Ethical?
Christine Grady reflects on 25 years of research ethics and the future
Previously, I wrote to you about research ethics expert Dr. Christine Grady’s ousting from the NIH.
On December 9, 2025, she will give a public lecture at the University of Pennsylvania on the legacy of her work.
What Makes Clinical Research Ethical?: A Twenty-Five Year Journey and Look to the Future
Speaker: Christine Grady, MSN, PhD
Former Chair, Department of Bioethics, NIH Clinical Center
Recognizing some uncertainty about the ethics of clinical research and differences in interpretation and implementation of existing guidance, 25 years ago, Dr. Grady and colleagues developed a framework to help investigators, reviewers, and interested others design, implement, and evaluate ethical clinical research. The framework, consisting initially of seven (and later eight principles), resonated with many around the globe.
In 2000, the NIH Clinical Center researchers published seven main principles to guide the conduct of ethical research:
Social and clinical value
Scientific validity
Fair subject selection
Favorable risk-benefit ratio
Independent review
Informed consent
Respect for potential and enrolled subjects
Since then, the framework has been used, debated, and cited in academic publications, national guidelines, presentations, and discussions across a wide spectrum of clinical research. In this presentation, Dr. Grady will discuss the origins of the framework, its contents and elements, how it has been used, some challenges, and where more work could be useful.
Dr. Grady has published widely in the biomedical and bioethics literature and authored or edited several books, including The Oxford Textbook of Clinical Research Ethics. Her work is known internationally, and she has lectured widely on ethical issues in clinical research and clinical care, HIV disease, and nursing.
Where: UPenn Medical Ethics and Health Policy
When: December 9, 2025
Cost: Free