Dear colleagues,
I wanted to share something I have been working on for some time, particularly because many of you have contributed, directly or indirectly, to the thinking behind it.
I have recently completed Research Ethics Committees in Practice: A Framework for Standards, Governance, and Continuous Improvement.
The book grew out of work I began in 2011, when I developed a national framework for the accreditation of research ethics committees in Sudan upon the request of Dr. Iman Mustafa, the director of research at the time. Over the years, through my work with RECs and research teams in Sudan, Saudi Arabia, humanitarian settings, and more recently in Ireland, I kept returning to the same practical questions: what makes an REC genuinely effective? How can its performance be assessed, and how can international principles be translated into functioning systems in very different institutional and resource contexts?
The book is my attempt to bring that experience and thinking together in a structured framework. It includes 95 measurable standards across seven domains, alongside practical tools for self-assessment, audit, SOP development, performance monitoring, and readiness assessment. It also addresses some of the challenges that are particularly relevant to resource-constrained, conflict-affected, and humanitarian settings and explores principled localisation through a worked example involving Islamic ethics and maqa?id al-shari?ah.
I am sharing it with colleagues whose experience I particularly value, not simply to circulate the book, but because I would genuinely welcome your perspectives on the framework and its practical applicability. In particular, I would be very interested in hearing from those who have worked with RECs in different institutional, regulatory, or humanitarian contexts.
The book is being released as a pilot edition. This reflects an intention to make the framework available for serious use and discussion while remaining open to evidence, experience, and further refinement. I have tried to be explicit about its limitations for the same reason. I am attaching its front matter, along with the first section, to give an idea of how it is structured. [*see note below]
The book is available on:
Amazon: https://a.co/d/04HJ6c3E
Google Books: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=FsIDEgAAQBAJ
and my website: https://drghaiath.com/research-ethics-committees-in-practice
There is no expectation at all that you read it cover to cover. If you have the opportunity to look at parts that are particularly relevant to your work, I would be very interested in any observations, criticisms or suggestions you may have.
Thank you, as always, for the conversations and experiences that have helped shape this work.
Best wishes,
Ghaiath
HIFA profile: Ghaiath Hussein is a registrar of community medicine and bioethicist by training. His expertise varied from providing assistance for researchers on technical and ethical issues, to editing and developing ethical guidelines and training manuals on research ethics. He has been working in the department of research at the Federal Ministry of Health (Sudan), before being assigned as the Senior Project Officer a MARC (Mapping African Ethics Review Capacity) project managed by COHRED and funded by the European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). Currently, he is an assistant professor of bioethics in King Saud University for Health Sciences, King Fahad Medical City Faculty of Medicine. He also provides voluntary ethics teaching and cosultation services for some regional and international organizations, especially on public health ethical issues. ghaiathme AT gmail.com
[*Note from HIFA moderator (NPW): Thank you Ghaiath. HIFA does not carry attachments.]